


Standing there in underwear

by PinkFluffyBabboonButt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bi!Draco, Bi!Harry, DADA Professor Harry, F/M, Grimmauld Place, I idk I guess I'm sorry, I'm digging my own grave here, Idk how I ended up with so many changes, Implied Mpreg, Kid Fic, Lucius stops being a dick and bakes awesome cookies, M/M, Teacher Draco, but i just did, but the plot bunnies don't care, or hahaha sufferrrrr, pudgy Harry, punk-ish Draco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-09 14:24:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 106,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11106420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkFluffyBabboonButt/pseuds/PinkFluffyBabboonButt
Summary: After vanishing for nineteen years Draco has returned to the Wizarding world with his two children after they are struck by the Renaissance spell. Everything about Draco is surprising and mysterious whether it's his new punk-ish looks or his insistence on his children being squibs. To make matters worse Harry is stuck with him through every step of the children's recovery. However, Harry can't bring himself to hate it as much as he should, instead he's mesmerized by the familiar stranger who's first act after returning was to punch him in the face.*most chapters un-betad**I'll add tags as I go*





	1. The Muggle Photograph

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-d chapter.

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. He was too tired to deal with any of this. He hadn't been able to sleep properly and it was just his luck that the students had gotten into a very bad fight right that day. When he'd come to Hogwarts to teach DADA he hadn't signed up for this. Luckily the last class of the day was over. The only ones remaining in the class room were him and Jake.

*****

_The boy had gotten into a fight with some other students and it had taken Harry a while to even notice and then almost fifteen minutes to just separate the boys, not to mention another ten minutes to calm them down and get to the root of the problem. It had been a muggle photo. Apparently Jake took this particular photo with him everywhere. The other boys had found it and decided to make fun of him, but one of the jokes offended Jake and when he'd asked the other boys to stop they didn't._

_Harry wondered whether he should actually for once take headmistress McGonagall's advice and be stricter to his students. Deciding against it he let the boys go with only a little reprimand but despite Jake's best efforts to get the photo back he'd confiscated it, promising to return the photo after the lesson to avoid further distractions._

_Harry hated teaching theory during the classes but since the fight had taken up so much time it would've been useless to teach anything practical anymore to so many students. Instead he let them get started with their homework essays. Luckily he didn't regret it. After a night of badly interrupted sleep just sitting and going through the essays, returned during the earlier lesson, didn't feel that bad._

_However, being more of a man of action he still ended up being bored soon. Luckily it was only ten minutes before the lesson ended. As he let his thoughts wander his eyes fell on the photo he'd put on the desk. Harry could easily see what could've caused the earlier fight. The photo was a funny one and would've been a goldmine of jokes for others, if he, Ron and Hermione had gotten caught in a similar way by other students back in their Hogwarts days. Three children were sleeping, crammed into a tiny bed, their limbs intertwined in very uncomfortable ways. There was glitter and confetti sprinkled all over them. Horribly done make up on their faces and as a cherry on the top there was a big bucket that someone had managed to manouvre on the headboard with an awful rope contraption. Harry wished it had been a magical photo so he could've had seen how the prank went. Alas, he couldn't so instead he settled on examining the terrible make up on each of their faces._

_On the open side of the bed was Jake. He looked so young, the photo must've been around the time he'd started studying in Hogwarts, maybe even before. Red lipstick smeared over his lips making him look like a clown. His mousy brown hair tied into tiny ponytails. Next to him was a girl, her wavy black hair turned into something akin to a rat's nest. The prankster must've had done it since no one could manage to get such a bedhead, not even Harry. The last child, another boy, was sleeping with his back against the wall. Purple, glittery eye make up making him look like a raccoon. There were also three black stripes on his cheek. It was hard to tell if the stripes were on both sides since his face was buried against the pillow. Only revealing his other cheek and nose._

_Harry blinked his eyes. Something about the boy's slender pointy nose caught his attention. Somehow it felt familiar but he couldn't tell why. The eye make up was too distracting. However, only a second later his eyes finally fell on the boy's hair and it hit him. The hair was blond. Not just any blond hair, but hair too blond to be natural for a muggle. Harry would've shaken it off as hair colour but these children were too young to be colouring their hairs._

_Harry looked back at the face adorned in purple and black and it became more obvious to him. The boy was almost like a carbon copy of Malfoy. For a fleeting moment the idea of reincarnation went through his mind. But it was just stupid. Then he wondered if the boy could be a doppelgänger. He'd heard all those theories of there being seven people with the same face all around the world. He couldn't remember if it applied only to the same generation or if the limits were extended over several generations._

_Hoping none of his students noticed anything he slid the photo closer to him and quickly turned it around. Harry knew Hermione often wrote important information like dates or names on the other side of the photo, he hoped to find something on this photo too. And he thanked his lucky stars as like he'd guessed, there was something written in scrawny handwriting._

_"Alec J. Luc M. and Cissy M."_

_Harry knew Alec J. stood for Alexander Jones. Jacob (Jake) Alexander Jones according to the papers. And if his deduction held any weight to it then Luc M. and Cissy M. stood for Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Only Draco would name his children like that. Harry realized that he might've just solved the biggest mystery the wizarding world had had. The mystery of the dissappearance of the Malfoy heir._

*****

Jake was looking cross. Which, of course, made sense. The photo hadn't been meant for anyone to see. The boy must've had his reasons to keep the photo with him. Not for other students or Harry to see and ask him questions. Harry had tried to ask them with as much discretion as possible but it hadn't help.

"They're just friends," Jake huffed in annoyance. He kept the photo with him because he had to spend so much time away from his best friends as they were muggles and had nothing to do with the Wizarding world. He missed them a lot and the only way to see them was the photo as Wi-Fi still wasn't a thing in the Wizarding world.

"Oh," Harry said, frantically trying to come up with a new question that wouldn't come of as creepy. "I thought they were your siblings." He finally managed to say sheepishly.

Jake glared at the older man. "Professor Potter, I saw you turn the photo around."

Harry felt flustered. He barely managed to keep himself from blushing in embarrassment. Of course, he had. It was important to him so naturally he had kept an eye on it even when it was "safe" with Harry.

When Jake noticed that despite the obvious embarrassment Professor Potter wasn't returning the photo he realized that the only way to get the photo back from Professor Potter was to answer the question _I didn't know you were a triplet?_. Although at first he wondered whether Professor Potter had lost it or not, but in the end he gave up and explained, "They're my muggle friends, my best friends. Next door neighbours too," his eyes lit up as he told Harry of his favourite moment, "We took this photo the summer before I came to Hogwarts. I was over at their place when, their dad, Mr. Mansoor decided to play that mean prank on us."

By now he wasn't looking angry anymore, instead he was sporting a fond smile on his face. He reached out for the photo which Harry returned to him reluctantly. But then he remembered the fight and before Jake could leave the classroom Harry told him to take care of the photo so he won't cause such ruckus ever again. Assuring him that nothing such will happen again Jake hastily got out of the classroom to catch up with his friends.

Now only Harry was left behind. He was still trying to wrap his head around the information he'd discovered. Jake had called their father Mr. Mansoor. Was Harry wrong after all? Maybe his eyes had played tricks on him. Besides who said that children their age didn't colour their hair. Nowadays the children were getting too soon into everything. besides it could be a wig too. But the children were called Luc and Cissy. They had to be Lucius and Narcissa. And the M had to stand for Malfoy not Mansoor. But if Harry remembered right Jake came from an average muggle town. What on earth would Malfoy be doing in a muggle town anyway?

Shaking the thoughts away Harry gathered his papers and headed for home. His mind filled with Malfoy and possible pastries to bring for Molly as a thank you for looking after Albus for so long.


	2. Meeting the Mansoor Twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-d chapter.

Despite trying to stop all the way from the class room to Grimmauld Place Harry couldn't help but think of Malfoy. It had been years since he'd had seen the blond boy. Occasionally he did wonder what Malfoy was up to as the wizard magazines and conspiracy shows brought up the mysterious disappearance of the Malfoy heir, however Harry didn't believe those one bit. He'd figured that since the war Malfoy had preferred staying out of the spotlight and was busy being the new master of Malfoy Manor. Married to some pure blood girl, producing heirs to keep up the Malfoy lineage. On the contrary, Malfoy had two children and he was living in a muggle town. Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Or what to make of the sudden feeling raging in him. The need, _urge_ , to go and check whether Malfoy was doing something he shouldn't.

A more rational part of Harry chided him for such stupid thoughts. If Harry's math was correct then now Malfoy was around 36 or 37, with two children. What scheming could such a man be doing? But then the image of Lucius flashed through Harry's mind and suddenly the urge to check on Malfoy grew stronger. It was almost as if he was a sixth year student again, spying on Malfoy all the time. With a lot of effort Harry pushed the thoughts of Malfoy aside. Harry was starting to regret the decision to let Molly have Albus for the night. Maybe having Albus home would've kept him busy and his thoughts in check.

The house felt eerily silent. It always felt that way, whenever his friends promised they'd take care of Albus for the time being. While the silence bothered him he felt grateful of his friends too. It had been almost a year since Albus had been born and he had only recently gotten back to work and stepped outside of home for things other than new baby products. At the moment it was still a little hard for him to balance both Albus and his work but luckily the Weasleys and the Longbottoms helped him out whenever they could.

However, Harry knew that Molly and rest of the Weasleys weren't volunteering to help Harry solely for that purpose (which they would have done even if everything had been alright). And he didn't mind. He understood them. Albus' first birthday was about to be soon yet Ginny was still being cold and distant.

Harry stopped his thoughts from wandering to Ginny. Thinking about it still hurt and he wasn't going to spend this Albus free evening wallowing in sadness. Instead he decided it was high time he found some time for himself, since school and Albus took up most of it. For once he hadn't needed to bring any work home either. No tests to check, no new lessons to plan, it was just him with the evening to himself. Which of course ended up with Harry finally catching up on all the household chores, since he didn't have any house elves to do that for him. Well, Kreacher was there, but Harry enjoyed doing the chores himself whenever he had the energy for it.

Two hours later Harry was sitting in his living room with nothing to do, again. This was the reason he didn't like to spend these Albus and work free evenings despite his otherwise endless grumbling about the need for a break. Sure, he could be done with household chores sooner without Albus and Hogwarts demanding all of his attention, but that was the point. Now he had entire evening to himself with nothing else to do. He would've rather spent his time with Ron and Hermione but since Rose was born even they had to go through these cycles of too much to do and nothing to do. At the moment doing the former.

In the end he decided to go for a walk and get some fresh air since it was still early. After an hour of walking for some reason Harry found himself in a muggle town. It had been years since he'd had to get all of his things done in muggle world. He used to do that after the war to avoid all the unwanted attention he was getting. The Golden Trio had rented an apartment together in muggle London to sort out their heads and their lives without the mass of people cornering them, specially Harry, on every given chance.

Saying that it took some time before Harry realized where he was would've been a lie. Subconsciously he knew very well where he was. He'd been there about seven years ago when he'd come to tell Jake's parents about the wizarding world. Ever since the conversation with Jake earlier that day he'd been unable to forget the photo. It took him some time to find Jake's house since it had been so long since he'd been there but eventually he found the familiar looking row of houses.

Standing on the pavement Harry wondered if he should pop in to meet Jake's parents but quickly decided against it. It was quite late and what was he supposed to tell them? _Your neighbour is an old rival of mine I love to spy on?"_ Instead he regarded the two houses on both sides of the house he had been looking at.

However, there was nothing that could stop his feet. Before he had even decided his feet were already moving towards the main door of one of the adjacent houses. And before he could even let out a frustrated groan at himself his hand had knocked the door. Why, oh why did he just jump into such situations? A moment later the door opened and a sweet looking old lady was staring at Harry through glasses so thick that they made her look like an owl.

"Hello. How can I help you, dear?" she asked, her owlish eyes pinning Harry on the spot.

"Er, nothing. I mean, well, umm. Is, I mean does D— Mr. Malf— Mr. Mansoor live here?" Harry tripped over his own tongue.

"No, he lives in the house next door to the Joneses," the old lady told him, making Harry feel both happy for avoiding an uncomfortable situation but also disappointed for the same reason. 

Thanking the lady for her time and declining her offer of tea and biscuits Harry walked towards the other house. Next to the Joneses the lady had said. It wouldn't hurt if he checked one more house. He just hoped he wasn't looking suspicious. After all who spent their free evening knocking on random people's houses looking for an old rival.

Of course it was a big assumption on Harry's part to think that they still lived here. Harry knew Jake's family still lived here because Jake would've told him otherwise. Harry liked to keep up with his students and specially Jake since the boy had been first muggle born wizard student Harry had to inform about Hogwarts. But there was no guarantee that his best friends lived here. Harry vaguely remembered Jake not using any kind of past tense when he mentioned the Luc and Cissy.

Still, steeling himself up Harry finally knocked the door. It took longer to open than the older lady had taken. Harry had even knocked again, just in case. But he didn't dare to ring the doorbell. In fact, he was even about to give up and go back when the door finally opened with a hard yank. A girl with a red Mohawk worn down on one side and an elaborately designed septum ring hanging from her nose was looking at him.

"Hey?" she said.

"Uh hi?" Harry answered, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"What do you want Mr—?"

"Potter. I'm Harry Potter."

"Kay, cool. How can I help you Mr. Potter?" she asked without skipping a beat, as if she wanted to get rid f the stranger at the door as soon as she could. Which wasn't really hard to understand.

"Umm, does Mr. Mansoor live here?" Harry managed to ask, this time without making a fool of himself. Luckily he'd had a practice round with the older lady. The idea of stammering like a fool in front the girl felt rather embarrassing.

"Did you even check the name plate?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "This is the Mansoor household, it's written on the name plate, D. Mansoor. So obviously he lives here" She snarkily pointed at the name plate.

So much for not embarrassing himself, this time in his nervousness he'd missed the nameplate on the door. Although Harry would've also preferred that the girl behaved herself a little.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I just wasn't paying—"

"'S okay. Happens every now and then. Anything else?" she asked as if Harry was buying groceries instead of looking for Malfoy.

"Uh, no. No, no, yes. I mean I want to meet Mr. Mansoor."

"He's not home. So, good-bye then," flashing him a quick smile, the girl slammed the door on his face. 

With a surprised blink Harry muttered a 'goodbye' to the closed door and turned around to head back when he saw a young boy, man, in front of him. It seemed like he'd just returned from somewhere.

Harry had to blink his eyes again. The young man standing in front of him had to be Luc. _Or Lucius._ Although the face could've been, in fact was all Malfoy, there was no way Malfoy could've had remained so young. Or had taken a 180 degree turn in his sense of style.

The man, _boy_ , Harry had to remind himself. _This wasn't Malfoy, this was his son._ Had a silvery blue undercut adorning his head. There were two piercings on his eyebrow, about five? seven? piercings on both ears and two piercings under his lower lip. And was that kohl (yes, Harry knew the basic make up products) in his eyes? The stick of a lollipop was sticking out of the boy's mouth. A quick glance told him that the boy was also too skinny for even Malfoy. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a t-shirt weird shade of orange.

"Uh, hey?" The boy drawled, a wheezing sound escaping his mouth as he sucked the lollipop in his mouth at the same time.

"Hi," Harry said, unable to look away from the boy. Could he seriously be Malfoy's son? Would Malfoy let his son dress up like that? 

"You need something?" The boy eyed Harry suspiciously. One of his eyebrows raised, reminding Harry of Malfoy. Despite the horrendous outfit the expression on his face was exactly similar to Malfoy's scowl and it caught Harry off guard.

"No, not really. I was just looking for Malf— Mr. Mansoor."

The boy gave him a blank stare, "Dad's not home. Unfortunately, sir, you'll have to come back later."

"Oh, alright. Indeed, it's very unfortunate."

The boy smiled at Harry.

Harry wasn't really sure what to do. He was definitely sure that these were the children from the photo. Before he could ask anything else the boy had pushed past Harry with a bored sigh as if Harry were nothing but a mere candy wrapper that had drifted in his way and that he had to dodge.

Baffled Harry looked back only to see the door shut one more time. His head plagued by even more questions now.


	3. Memories of Malfoy

Harry spent that whole night tossing and turning in his bed. He was supposed to be enjoying a night without Albus waking him up every few hours, but instead he was thinking of Malfoy. Or to be precise the latest generation of Malfoys. Right after meeting the two children from the photo Harry had returned home as fast as he could.

He just couldn't seem to be able to stop thinking of the youngsters. The boy, as Harry had told himself already more than enough many times, was the splitting image of Malfoy. But the girl was his polar opposite. Harry tried to remember what she looked like. In his nervousness and initial shock of her red hair and her attempt to get rid of him he hadn't noticed all the details. But he knew enough to tell that the girl had to look like her mother. Even in the photo she had dark hair. Her skin was several shades darker. And she'd lacked the pointy features of a Malfoy, but she emitted the same superior and snarky air that Malfoy used to unlike the boy. He had a certain warmth to himself that Harry knew Malfoy was incapable of ever achieving.

Malfoy had vanished a year after the war. He'd returned to Hogwarts to get his N.E.W.T.s with the rest of them but after that year no one had heard of him again. Or seen him. Back then Harry hadn't paid it much mind to it but now it was bothering him to no end. Why had Malfoy left? The name change, the children. If he'd gotten married and had children shouldn't he be living a lavish life in Malfoy Manor?

Lucius had gotten back from Azkaban only a few years prior. Harry still remembered the sudden wave of reporters hunting him down again, to get his opinion in the matter. Given the youngsters being Jake's age Malfoy had gone down the family path quite soon. He should've been living with his pure blood wife in the Manor. Unless... No, Harry shook his head. Knowing Malfoy the man could, would, never marry a muggle. Yet he was living like a muggle. And Harry was sure of it because he was experienced and powerful enough to sense magic. And he hadn't sensed any around the youngsters or the residence.

Still beating the thoughts and questions up in his mind Harry fell asleep.

*****

 

_It had been three weeks since they had returned to Hogwarts. Harry hadn't been really ready to leave the solitude of his muggle apartment yet, but since Ron and Hermione had decided to return Harry hadn't wanted to be left alone. At the beginning of the fourth week Malfoy had approached them. The Golden Trio had been in the library catching up on some subjects to have a head start because Hermione insisted and Ron and Harry didn't have the heart to refuse her. If that was keeping her afloat then why not._

_Malfoy had been hovering near their table. Hermione had been the first one to notice him but instead of giving him a cue she'd turned back to her book. Quickly whispering to the boys. If Malfoy had noticed Hermione warning the boys he didn't let it show on his face. Instead he approached the trio, standing awkwardly next to their table._

_When either Hermione or Ron refused to acknowledge his presence Harry decided to break the tension. "Malfoy?"_

_A glimmer of hope passed through Malfoy's eyes. "Potter, Granger, Weasley." He addressed all three of them._

_"Yes?" Harry asked. Hermione and Ron were still ignoring him, though Harry could feel one of them kick him under the table._

_"I—" Malfoy took a long breath and extended his hand, "I want to apologize for everything I've done. Before the war, for the war, during the war. To all of you. I understand if you can't forgive me, but if you could at all. I'd be grateful to have another chance. To start all over again, as a better person."_

_All three of them were surprised to hear Malfoy apologize for everything and Ron and Hermione were even more surprised when Harry took his hand after a moment of hesitation, Even Harry was surprised to find himself clutching to Malfoy's hand. He hadn't even glanced at his friends to ask what they thought about it. Giving Malfoy's hand a light squeeze he mustered a smile, "Of course Malfoy. I think all of us deserve a new beginning," he told the blond boy._

_Malfoy looked relieved. Harry had heard rumours going around school. That Malfoy was apologizing to all the eighth years. And even many other students. Apparently he'd even apologized to Luna. Despite Harry's words Malfoy was still standing next to the table. When Harry looked back at him he noticed the boy was looking expectantly at Hermione and Ron, both of whom were heatedly avoiding Malfoy's gaze. After a few more minutes he gave up. Shooting Harry a dejected smile he left them._

_Harry should've expected the rant he got from his best friends after Malfoy left._

_"Mate, what the hell was that?" Ron hissed._

_"What was what?" Harry ask back, despite knowing very well what Ron meant._

_"Whatever you did with Malfoy."_

_"I shook his hand," Harry said, pretending as if there was nothing special about it._

_"Harry," Hermione started, but was stopped by Harry._

_"Look I understand why you're not liking it. But I'd rather just forget it and let past be past than start dealing with this, whatever this is that Malfoy's doing, since I have plenty of other things to focus on too."_

_Harry's answer was enough to slightly calm Hermione down but Ron was still grumbling._

_"How can you be so sure, that whatever this is, isn't a ploy to attack us, you, again? Because if you really think that Malfoy would just waltz up to everyone and apologize with good intentions then you must be even more daft than I am!"_

_By now Ron's voice was growing loud enough to attract a little attention towards the trio. Harry sighed. "I know Ron but seriously, I don't think that Malfoy would risk it. I helped him avoid Azkaban. The least he could do is be a decent human being. And I think that's what he's currently doing." However, he wasn't as sure of it himself either. But he was tired of being the savior so he had no intentions on starting another hunt for the bad guy. He'd deal with them only when (if) they'd cross paths with him._


	4. Meeting Mr. Mansoor

Back then Harry hadn't paid much mind to Malfoy. It didn't matter whether Malfoy was going around apologizing to everyone or not. The war had been over and even though Harry could never get rid of the thought of Malfoy being up to something he still had ignored the other boy. He told himself it would be better that way. They both needed another chance and with the rivalry going on between them they couldn't do it together. Why start another turbulent chapter in their lives when everything was even?

This track of thoughts should've stopped Harry from poking his nose into matters that he had nothing to do with but he couldn't help himself. Which is why a week later Harry found himself pushing Albus in his buggy down the familiar pavement towards the door with the nameplate on it that he hadn't read.

Last time it had been a weekday thus it had been quite normal for Malfoy to not be there, but this time Harry had deliberately waited until weekend to try to pay another visit to the _Mansoors_. Harry snorted. As if Malfoy could actually hide anything. Harry trusted his instincts and his instincts were never wrong when it was about Malfoy. Now only thing Harry had to determine was whether Malfoy was up to something or not. The rational part of his mind told him that Malfoy was up to nothing and that he should turn back instead of using the same old excuse to spy on Malfoy, but the irrational part in him told him to go and meet him. Make sure nothing was going on. And of course, Harry chose to do the irrational thing. When had he ever chosen the more logical, rational options?

When he'd decided to go out with Albus that day he hadn't really thought anything beforehand. He hadn't planned how he'd react or what excuses he would give to the girl and the boy. And what if Malfoy was the one to open the door? What if no one opened the door and he'd end up standing there like a fool? What if they had already informed Malfoy about a certain Mr. Potter asking about him and Malfoy had run away? Or what if he was wrong after all? What it he went there all confident only to discover a random man who'd fathered the döppelganger of Malfoy?

However, all of Harry's worries washed away before his what ifs could ascend to a whole new realm of ridiculousness when he saw someone crouching on the ground tinkering with a motorbike. The man was wearing tight jeans and a hoodie. Harry would've wondered whether it was Malfoy or not if his eyes hadn't fallen on the man's hair. It was dusty brown. This had to be someone else. He should've listened to the rational part of him.

Just as Harry was about to awkwardly Dodge the man and keep walking as if nothing ever happened the man almost jumped up and let out a huff.

"Really should hit the gym again," he mumbled to himself. As if it wasn't the tight pair of jeans making it hard from him to crouch instead of the nonexistent extra weight on the man's rather slender seeming abdomen. But it wasn't the snuggly fitting jeans that caught Harry's attention, it was the voice. The voice Harry could never mistake for someone else's.

"Excuse me?" Harry said.

"Huh? Oh hey there," the man, surprised by the interruption, said, turning to look at the source of the voice.

It was Malfoy! Harry felt his jaw drop but he couldn't help it. It was Draco sodding Malfoy. With dusty brown wavy locks, ear piercings, thin tendrils of tattoos poking from under his hoodie ending mid neck, and a lip ring. Harry also wondered whether he'd just seen a flash of metal in Malfoy's mouth.

A coughing noise brought Harry back from his awestruck state.

"Uh, sorry. Yes," Harry felt flustered, "Hi, Malfoy. It's been a long time."

Harry smiled, holding the handle grip of Albus' buggy tight. Nervous how things were going to proceed.

"Pardon?" Draco said with a confused smile. It looked genuine enough to almost fool Harry, but not enough. Unlike Malfoy's hair his eyes hadn't changed their colour. The whole family seemed to have an affinity for coloured and stylized hair but that wasn't something that bothered Harry. Instead the slightly panicked glint in Malfoy's grey eyes did.

"Malfoy, you heard me quite well," he couldn't help snapping at the man.

"No, I heard you right. But I'm not Malfoy. I think you're mistaken Mr.—" Draco trailed off as if he didn't already know Harry's name.

"Malfoy, seriously?" Harry huffed. "You're not going to play pretend with me, are you?" 

"Listen, Mr.— sir, I'm not Malfoy. I really think you're making a mistake.

"Am I Malfoy?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't going to let Malfoy play this game.

"I already told you I'm not Malfoy. I'm Mansoor, Drake Mansoor. You are seriously mixing me up with someone else," Draco, _Drake_ , said, his smile replaced by an annoyed grimace that was trying to copy a smile.

"Malfoy, lets not do this. I know you're not pleased to see me here but—"

"I. Am. Not. Malfoy."

"Malfoy—" Harry tried to reason with him but it seemed as if repeating the name just served to annoy the man to the point of snapping.

"Shut up and get the hell out of here Mr. whoever you are," Malfoy was nearly hissing, "I don't know what _you_ are trying to play at, but I won't be fooled. In fact if you didn't have the baby with you I would've punched you in the face." He spat and turned, storming away into the house. 

That went well. Harry sighed. Guess Malfoy wasn't into wizard guests or maybe Harry should've used his current name Mansoor. He had gone through so many different scenarios. One of them was both of them hexing each other to death, but he hadn't thought of anything like this. The man was definitely Malfoy no matter the radically different outlook. The ridiculous hair. Harry understood Malfoy's need to change his name. But he could've given Harry a cue or something, he hadn't needed to snap at Harry like that. Had Malfoy really hated meeting Harry again after all these years so much?


	5. Getting a Black Eye

It had been three weeks since Harry had pushed Albus' buggy back home while grumbling about Malfoy's rudeness and two days since the summer vacation had started. That night he'd spent another sleepless night mulling over the events of the day. To be honest Harry wasn't surprised by Malfoy's reaction to having Harry at his door. Neither of them had ever gotten along well. But Harry couldn't understand why instead of hexing or sneering at him Malfoy would choose to ignore Harry like that entirely. Heck, he wasn't even ignoring Harry. He was pretending as if he'd never known Harry in the first place. If he hadn't known the boy better he could've easily fallen for the act. This was exactly why back in Hogwarts it had been so important for him to know what Malfoy was up to. If he hadn't known better he would've never learnt to read Malfoy properly.

Now three weeks later Harry still hadn't gotten over the urge to spy on the man or try to coax out a reaction out of Malfoy again, but Malfoy had been right. If Albus hadn't been there with him things could've gotten ugly. Besides it wasn't only about Malfoy anymore. He had children now. Making a scene might lead to unwanted situations, and if someone traced back to the root of the whole situation they'd find out about the photo and Harry didn't want to lose either Jake's trust (or any other student's for that matter) or his job at Hogwarts. Stalking Malfoy wasn't worth it. He was glad that at least he had an answer to Wizarding world's biggest mysteries. _Wherefore the fuck was the Malfoy heir?_

Harry couldn't help snorting at the idea of Malfoy finding out about the wizarding teenagers turning him into an urban legend. The Malfoy Harry knew would think it was utterly preposterous or he would feed the legend with a smug smile. But he had no idea about the Malfoy he'd met after all these years. Most probably he would've denied the existence of magic entirely. Harry had a hard time picturing Malfoy denying magic.

Still deep in his thoughts wondering what Malfoy's family was like Harry began to make his breakfast before Albus would wake up and demand all the attention for himself. Did they know about the wizarding world? Surely they had to unless they were squibs because that was the only case where they won't get the letter to Hogwarts. Or had they studied in Hogwarts without anyone knowing. No, that was impossible Harry would've remembered them. Could that be the reason Malfoy was hiding away? Too ashamed to show his face in the wizarding world after fathering squibs. A part of Harry snickered at the thought, another one felt bad. Despite the irony Malfoy didn't need to hide away over it. Many things had changed over the years. Now wizarding world was learning to embrace muggles and squibs too, courtesy to Hermione.

Harry wondered if Malfoy's wife knew about magic. Or his children. Did he show tiny tricks to them, or tell them stories about his life in manor and Hogwarts. Maybe even stories of the war. Harry could imagine Malfoy sugarcoating or exaggerating the stories before telling the truth to his family.

As Harry sat down to dig into his breakfast a clattering noise from the other room had him on his feet again. Ron had stumbled out of the floo looking distraught and in hurry.

"Ron?" He approached his friend carefully, that expression never meant good with Ron.

"Harry what'd you do?" Ron asked, now clearly more annoyed.

"What do you mean what did I do?"

"Harry, don't. We don't have time for this. Get ready, we need to go to St. Mungo's right now. You can fill me in on the way. Mom said she'll come over to take care of Albus."

"Fine, but why? And what will I fill you in on? Ron, what's going on?" Harry asked, now seriously confused. Why would Ron drag him to St. Mungo's on an early summer morning? "Has something happened to Hermione?"

"No, but something will soon happen if you don't get moving, mate." Ron huffed, getting impatient.

"But why? What's going to happen to Mione?"

Finally Ron turned. It was obvious he was barely containing a storm of emotions. "Mate, Malfoy happened. He barged this morning to St. Mungo's and he's been threatening anyone and everyone to bring you over. Hermione' trying to calm him but you know how he gets when he's in the mood of hexing. Merlin knows why he decided to show up after nearly twenty years only to threaten my Mione and you."

Before Harry could wrap his head around what he'd just heard Ron had sidealong apparated them to St. Mungo's and in he was standing face to face with a very angry and seething Draco Malfoy. Unlike the Malfoy about a month ago this Malfoy was his Malfoy with venom coursing through his entire posture and anger flaring in his eyes.

"There you are Potter!" He roared, while Hermione tried to calm him down. All the people passing by gave the shouting madman curious yet disapproving glances but it seemed like they hadn't recognized Malfoy yet. Which was no surprise since the man was wearing long black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt revealing the tattoo sleeves on his arms and the tattooed tendrils around his neck. His brown coloured hair was all mussed up and the side of his face was bleeding. Harry also noticed the rips on one side of his jeans and all the dirt there-

"Malfoy?" Harry said, still trying to comprehend what was going on. He saw Malfoy wiggle out of Hermione's grip.

"Don't you dare Malfoy me!" was all Harry heard Malfoy shout at his face before a stinging pain spread around his eyes and everything went black.


	6. Calming Draco

There was a lot of fussing. And cursing. It took Harry a moment to realize Malfoy and Hermione were arguing. Harry contemplated whether he should stay still and pretend to still be knocked out or make the two aware that he'd regained his consciousness. Given his experience with both of them he realized it was better for him to just lay still and keep his eyes closed.

"Malfoy calm down. It would be a lot better if you explained what happened instead of being hellbent on meeting the children. I can assure you they're fine."

"This is not fine. I am their father, I have the right to see my children. Why are you keeping me here with Potter, I want to see my children! Not Potter's ugly face!" 

When the argument didn't seem to cease Harry realized it would be better for him to cut in by waking up conveniently in the middle of the argument. He knew that Hermione wouldn't do anything stupid but if his memory was any good then Malfoy using that certain pitch of voice was bad. It meant a hex was about to fly in anyone's direction.

He tried to crack his eyes open carefully only to experience a painful sting shoot across his head. He let out a groan that alerted both Hermione and Draco. In a flash Hermione had left Draco's side and was hovering over Harry now.

"Harry? Are you alright?" Hermione asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Not in the book of the dead yet," he tried to crack a joke. Where Hermione smiled wryly at him Draco wasn't as amused.

"Of course, you're alive, The-boy-who-refused-to-leave-us-be!" The angry man snarled at him. 

"Oh cut it out, will you? He just woke up." Hermione finally snapped at him effectively shutting Draco up for a moment. 

She helped Harry sit up and cast a quick spell to get rid of the black eye that had only started blooming.

"How long was I out?" Harry asked as he rolled his eyes to adjust the lenses he'd been wearing. He was glad he'd taken the time to wear the lenses in the morning before breakfast instead of sliding his glasses on. Malfoy's punch had had enough power to ruin his face forever if he'd been wearing them.

"Not even ten minutes." Hermione glanced pointedly at Draco. It was clear he'd managed to make the ten minutes feel like an eternity with all the shouting and cursing.

Harry looked at him and noticed the dried blood on his face and neck.

"Malfoy—"

"Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy! I already told you not to Malfoy me!"

"Fine then, Mansoor—" Harry sighed. Perhaps staying unconscious would've been better for him after all. Apparently Draco seemed to think so too as he got back the same look on his face that he'd had before punching Harry earlier in the corridor.

"You know very well what I meant Potter. Ever since I've been here all you lot have been doing is telling me my name, as if I don't know it myself. You better—"

He was still threatening Harry but there was no sound. For a moment Harry wondered if he'd lost his hearing due to Draco shrieking right next to his ears, but when he noticed who had entered the room during all the ruckus it was obvious that the enraged man had been rendered mute with a spell.

"Pansy, thank Merlin you're here!" Hermione said in relief.

Pansy was leaning against the doorframe. Her long nails tapping against it. She was sporting an annoyed expression, after all Hermione had made her ditch her 5th anniversary trip with Blaise to come back to work.

"What is it Hermione?" She drawled, checking her nails, making it more than obvious that she was eager to join Blaise back in Spain.

Hermione shook her head at the man clad in black with his back turned towards Pansy, the man who was still trying to argue with Harry, stomping his leg and shaking his fists.

"What about him, other than his screaming murder so loud that I could hear it before even getting out of the hospital floo? Don't tell me you couldn't cast a simple spell to shut him up. And another so he won't suffocate Harry to death." Pansy raised her eyebrow and pointedly looked at the two men scuffling behind Hermione.

By now Draco had managed to dangle Harry by the collar and Hermione had to rush to forcefully pry Harry out of his death grip.

"Can't you recognize your own best friend trying to kill mine?" She huffed as she dragged Draco away from Harry.

At that Pansy's annoyed attitude faltered and suddenly she was standing straight staring at the brown haired man with curiosity. She had only ever had one best friend, and if Hermione was joking with her she was going to hex her to her own funeral. Taking a tentative step towards the trashing man she put her hand on his shoulder only to see him turning around and receive a death glare from him.

"Salazar! Draco! It's you!" She could hardly believe her eyes. Her best friend who had vanished nearly nineteen years ago was standing in front of her, looking nothing like himself.

However Draco wasn't as excited to see Pansy as she was after seeing him. Instead he looked lost and confused. Trying desperately to decide who he should charge at to intimidate them enough so they'd finally take him to his children. But before he could cause any more ruckus Pansy had also cast an immobulus on him freezing him on the spot.

"I can't believe it's him!" She said, circling her friend as if he were a rare statue in an exhibition.

"Well neither could I when he first barged in here with his children," Hermione answered, still panting from the effort of trying to keep a grown man still.

"Children?!" Pansy said incredulously. "He doesn't really look like someone with a child. Or children. Did you just say children?"

"Yes, two of them. Someone cast the Renaissance spell on his children and he ran here carrying them as they de-aged. I think he had apparated making the de-aging faster. The children are now in the womb room. I've cast proper spells and wards. Now if we just could make him explain what happened I could continue the treatment."

Pansy gave her friend and appreciative glance. On cue both Harry and Hermione were looking at him too. Due to his angry trashing it hadn't been as obvious that somehow he'd managed to maintain his body perfectly whereas Harry had gone pudgy only after three years of a blissful married life. And he'd remained pudgy even though his blissful marriage had shattered apart almost a year ago.

"I see," Pansy finally said. "How about I take care of that nasty gash on his face while you tell me what exactly happened. Then we can decide together what where going to do about this brute."

As Pansy set to carefully wipe the plotches of blood off of Draco's face and neck Hermione helped her and told her how Malfoy had run to the reception like a madman carrying his de-aging children demanding for a healer. The young receptionist hadn't recognized the former Death Eater who's face had adorned the front page of The Prophet so many times all those years ago. And still did occasionally whenever The Prophet "got new leads" on Malfoy's mysterious disappearance. But he'd been scary enough for the receptionist to ask Hermione to stop her rounds and come to her aid as Hermione was one of the few healers who knew how to handle overly angry people.

She had recognized the spell and set to work immediately instead of letting the surprise of seeing Draco after so long hinder her. Once the initial threat had passed the real drama began. Apparently there had been a surge of magic in a muggle town and Ron had come to hospital too to warn Hermione of any possible patients as they'd found traces of the re-birth spell on the location. She'd explained the situation to him and even taken Ron to Draco so he could immediately get the statement, as the spell was illegal and had to be reported to the aurors.

Unfortunately, seeing Ron in his auror's robes had triggered a switch in him and instead of frantically trying to pry information about his children from Hermione he'd started to scream that he'd done nothing and demand for Potter, blaming everything on him. Hermione also told Pansy everything that had happened since Harry had arrived up until when she had arrived. Once they were all done with both the story and cleaning up Draco Pansy cast a quick spell to avoid the gash from leaving a permanent mark on his face. Then taking a step back she freed him from the immobulus spell.

He fell on the floor inelegantly, but quickly scrambled up.

"What the hell?!" He spluttered, trying to regain his composure. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

"Well, it couldn't be helped, could it now? If you insist on barging on your children like an angry barbarian and scare the living daylights out of them then this is what you'll get." Pansy told him without a flinch just öike she used to when they were young.

Draco seemed to calm down a little at the mention of his children and how his irrational behavior could affect them negatively.

"Fine, I'll behave. But I need to see my children first, please," Draco desperately pleaded. He understood Pansy's point, but he was so worried and the healers werenät telling him anything. They were only handing him forms to fill and asking him questions that made no sense.

Something in the way he pleaded to see his children made Harry's heart twinge. If someone had cast that spell on his Albus he would've gone berserk too.

"The children are safe Draco, and you'll get to see them soon, but first we need to get other things sorted." Pansy said. Even she had melted at the sight of his friend pleading to see his children. Never in nineteen years of being apart from her best friend had she imagined she'd reunite with him in such a way.

"Fine," he sighed, his head hanging low as Hermione went out to get Ron for the statement so they could get to healing the children as soon as possible.


	7. The Womb Room

Hermione's fidgeting had left Draco a little insecure, but with Pansy by his side and Hermione's assurances had kept him from panicking. However, when Hermione left him outside of the weird room. She'd gone in looking slightly unsure and come out again looking pale. It was enough for him to know that everything was certainly not fine.

"Granger, you said everything is fine," Draco said, looking at Hermione who had just come back from what she had called the womb room, specifically dedicated to the spell his children were attacked with.

"No, yes, I mean. Yes, everything's fine. I just needed to ask some questions and then you can see them," she said, almost carefully as if trying to tip toe around an angry lioness. Not that Draco wasn't behaving like one.

"Granger you promised me I can see them once I gave my statement to Weasley. I did so. I told you all I know about the attack and now I demand you let me in." His voice began to take that dangerously angry tone again.

"Yes, I did say that, but it's just a few more questions and then you can go."

"I'm not answering any more questions Granger."

"You have to. You want us to help you treat them, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but I need to see them! Just a glimpse and then I'll answer all the questions you need me to answer. Hell, I'll fill all the gossip magazine quizzes for you if you want me to!" He was getting impatient. It hadn't been that long since the attack had happened early in the morning, but it still felt like ages since the healers had taken children from his arms and Hermione's fidgeting wasn't helping him either.

Hermione weighed her options. She was sure Draco would throw a hissy fit if she let him in. The daughter had de-aged well. And now she was in the makeshift womb. But the boy hadn't. When she'd left the children with the intern healer they'd been pre-teens. But according to the intern as they got younger the daughter lost her magical core and the son became something they'd never seen to happen before. Hermione was having her own crisis on how to deal with this. As a healer specialized in this particular field she couldn't let her focus be diverted from her strange patients. And she still had no idea what she'd tell to Draco, which was no surprise. She'd only found out about it only five minutes ago. Perhaps it was only for better to let Malfoy in and show him what was going on. Hermione's only source of relief was Pansy carefully standing between Draco and Harry so they didn't end up hexing each other. Or rather so Draco didn't end up hexing Harry.

"Fine," she finally huffed, stepping aside to let a Malfoy in.

What awaited him inside was so many things at once. It was fascinating, shocking, alarming yet somehow even charming. Draco couldn't help the drop of his jaw when he saw the room full of sci-fi like fairly large tube like containers containing clear liquid. They had to be the "wombs" as he noticed a baby in one of them. At the other end of the room there were hospital beds. However, nothing attracted his attention as much as one of the tubes emitting soft light. The particular tube and the one next to it with had large tags in them with Malfoy 1 and Malfoy 2 written on them.

While Draco had rushed and to the tubes and was taking in every last detail Hermione was observing him. She'd thought Draco would go berserk all over again when he couldn't find his children but the man had instinctively ran to the orb that had been bothering the intern and Hermione to no end, but on the contrary to her belief, unfazed by the orb, Draco carefully reached his hand out to caress the orb and then began to look around for his daughter.

"She's in there but you won't be able to see her yet," Hermione told him.

Instead of answering, Draco scanned through the liquid as if by some miracle and with the help of fatherly love he would be able to see his child. While he was gawking at the entirety Hermione ignored the surprised gasps of Pansy and Harry. Draco's relieved gaze was bothering her a lot. On their way to the womb room she had explained the basic idea of the curse cast on the children. It had originally been a glamour like spell used to appear younger. After the war someone someone had twisted the spell into a curse to punish Slytherins. The beauty of this new curse was that if cast in secret then the victim kept de-aging to the point were they became a mere fertilized egg and then nothing. In fact for first several years no one had any idea where all the Slytherins kept vanishing. But then the criminal made the mistake of casting the spell in front of people. it lead to the discovery of this curse and also Hermione's interest on it. Now she was the leading healer of any kind of treatment and research on the illness. 

Usually this overview of the curse wasn't enough for the distraught family members. But for someone as dramatic as Draco he was handling the situation all too well. He wasn't fazed at all by the sight. Actuallt, he seemed to be the only one who understood everything and deserved to be the lead researcher of the curse. Hermione took her eyes off of Draco and looked back at Pansy and Harry. Hermione thanked her lucky stars, her husband had left as soon as he'd brought Harry in as he was needed back for some case. If Ron had remained he would've fainted at the sight of the children.

As one of them was a glowing orb and another one was a fertilized egg.

"They'll be fine?" He asked, his eyes still wide as saucers, but now slightly glossy too.

"Yes, she is stable as far as all the test results are showing, however I'm sorry but we're not quite sure about your son," Hermione confessed hoping Malfoy wouldn't burst like a volcano. The man had already been bad in their school days with his natural attitude. Add a possessive father to the mix and you'd get someone even Hermione might not be able to handle. 

"Yes, he looks a lot tinier than he's supposed to but I guess he's just like her, an embryo," Draco said, making Hermione wonder how he could tell anything about the orb or the stage of his daughter.

"If my readings are right they're actually both fertilized eggs at the moment," she corrected him.

As surprised as she was by how Draco was going to react she was also amused by his first expression of surprise. Finally after what felt like an eternity of trying to grasp the situation Draco turned to Hermione.

"And what will happen now?"

"Well," Hermione was glad to finally reach the part where she explained how the treatment worked, "We stopped the de-aging but there's no spells, potions or treatmeant yet that could return them to their age right away. But we have spells to stop the process and potions to help the patients reach their age again. Depending on how much magic the patients' possess the growing up can take more or less time. Given the strength of your magic and also your wife's they should grow up approximately a year in a month."

He didn't say anything as he was busy doing the quick math. His children were both eighteen so it would take a year and a half before he had them safely back with him. However, given his wife's magical abilities he would've imagined that it would take longer. He wanted to ask how long it usually took but he decided against it. But then a thought struck him.

"What about their memories, will they loose all of their memories? Gain new ones?"

Hermione didn't miss the slightly nervous tone, but it made sense. Years of life wiped away was awful. No matter what a person had experienced.

"Surprisingly no, the patients always have all of their memories. And as they grow they regain all their physical features too," she emphasized remembering the piercings on the children, "Though it does get a bit complicated. As they grow back to their actual ages they start to gain two sets of memories, what they experience while growing up and what they already had gone through their entire lives. Their original memories are seamless and perfect and only problem is that they come back in chunks. Since they grow so fast. But the new memories are a bit harder to deal with, once again because they're growing so fast. It's not just lowering the walls from the way of original memories. It's like an outline of a story and their brains struggle with filling in the plot holes. Both of these processes cause side effects, mostly headaches. But unfortunately, there's nothing for that yet."

Draco seemed to consider her words for a while, before giving a slight nod.

"And is there any way I can help them?"

"Nope," Pansy said, popping the p. She had finally recovered from the shock. Harry was still hiding behind her, now looking slightly guilty, as if their attack had indeed been his fault. And he had a very good reason for it. He'd learned from Ron, who'd told Harry before leaving, that if he hadn't gone parading around openly near Malfoy's house then none of this would've had happened. Sometimes Harry forgot that there were still nut jobs out there after both him and Death Eaters, most notably Draco, and that it didn't take more than one glimpse of either of them before these nut jobs were up to something awful.

"Or well, nothing in the sense of treatment, all you can do is do some parenting all over again," Pansy rushed to explain when a resigned look took over Malfoy's features.

"Of course I can do that. I was doing that all along. Well, it would've ended soon when they'd moved out but it's just one more year," Draco said, softness taking over his pointy features, as he cast a quick glance at his children.

It was quite strange to see the boy who'd always been sparse with his words and careful with his emotions to be the exact opposite as a grown man.

"Merlin! Is this what I think it is?" Pansy exclaimed.

"Yeah, she's just a fertilized egg, and if Malfoy's not wrong he's too," a Hermione said, the same enthusiasm clear in her eyes.

Harry craned his neck to see what was going on, when Hermione beckoned them both to go take a closer look. No one noticed how Draco was frowning over the attention given to his children.

"There's nothing here," Harry scowled. Of course, not being a healer, he had no idea what he was looking for- With a spell Pansy made the tiny grain of sand glow thus making it obvious to everyone what exactly had surprised her so.

Harry was awestruck. This is what he's Albus had been like too.

"What's wrong with his son?" He asked. 

"Nothings wrong with my children Potter," Malfoy spat. For a moment reminding everyone of the boy they'd once known.

"But he's a glowing orb."

"It's a pure blood thing you won't understand," he lied, "Besides how do you even know that the orb's my son?"

Now he reminded everyone of the boy they'd once known even more. Of course there had to be the purity related comment somewhere. There was no way Malfoy was going to let a day pass without one of those.

"Only your pureblood arse could turn a child into a weird orb instead of a normal human being," Harry couldn't help snarling back.

"Don't you dare to call my child weird!"

"Cut it out you two! As nice as all this gawking has been, there are still many that we need to discuss. Besides this isn't the best environment for fighting," Pansy diffused any chance of the banter breaking into a full blown fight.

It seemed to work and both men deflated. Shooting Pansy a grateful smile Hermione herded the two men out of the room back to her office with Pansy following them. 


	8. A Public Spectacle

For a moment it looked like the light brown eyebrow would take off on a flight but Draco did manage to keep it stuck on his face.

"Are you seriously telling me that I'm going to have to discuss everything with them present here?" He looked at Hermione, challenge in his eyes.

Unfortunately, all Hermione could do was nod her head. Ron had told her that somehow it had all started after Harry had visited Malfoy, so she needed to know Harry's side of the story, She needed to rule out any effect of Harry's magic before she'd dwell deeper into the issue of the orb. And Pansy had to be there in case things got heated between Malfoy and Harry. Hermione was tired from taking care of her own newborn and trying to deal with the never ending steady tream of Renaissance patients, she had no energy to deal with the men in case they could't help falling into their old routine, which Malfoy, specially, seemed to be already quite comfy with.

Schooling her face into a stern expression Hermione handed him a few forms, "Pansy is the only other healer able to help me with this curse currently, and I need to ask both you and Harry questions. I hope it won't be too much of a bother to fill these forms while you answer my questions."

With a defeated slump Draco gave in and sat down cursing his luck in his mind. Of course everything in his life sooner or later always turned into a private spectacle. He took a seat on the other side of the desk, Pansy sat next to him while Hermione opposite to him on her chair. He couldn't be bothered to look back to see where Harry sat or stood, but if the heavy feeling at the nape of his neck and over his head was any indicator then Harry was hovering right behind him, as if he wasn't already feeling irritated enough.

"Tell me about your children first. Usually we don't need this kind of information but given that your children are currently a fertilized egg and an orb, they're rather unusual cases and the information you give us will help us decide on their treatment."

Draco pinched the bridge if his nose while going through the forms, "I guess you don't need me to tell you their blood groups or any information like that."

"No, we found that out from the initial tests," Hermione pointed at the files laying on her desk, then she pointed at the forms, "And the forms are basic contact information forms. You were supposed to fill them earlier, but you were busy punching Harry in the face."

He had guessed as much. Grudgingly he set to fill the forms and answering Hermione's questions.

"First I'd like you to tell me about your wife's strength of magic," Hermione said.

"She was a muggle", Draco answered, trying to keep his face as neutral as he could. He knew she'd ask about his son next so before she could ask anything he decided to cut the indirect interrogation short and ask her a question instead.

"How much will the sibling bond affect the treatment, since they are twins and all that?" He finally asked, his grey eyes piercing into Hermione's brown eyes.

"We don't really know, as I said, we've only ever had individual cases. Many cases at once, yes, but all of them on their own, no relatives ever at once. I don't think it should really affect much. It's normal for wizards and witches to give birth to twins but not both of the children getting the magical powers. However, we still have the issue of your son becoming an orb. You said it was a pureblood thing?"

"Yes, I did," Malfoy said, staring strictly at the form and avoiding Hermione's gaze.

"But I've treated a lot of purebloods and studied a lot about them. I've never heard of children being orbs.

"As if you could really expect to find books and parchments in any place that's not a library owned by a pureblood?" Draco snapped.

Hermione nodded, casting a quick glance at Pansy, who understood the meaning of it and took over the conversation allowing Hermione to mull over the new piece of information immediately.

"And what about the mother?" Pansy said, her eyes grazing over Draco's full form again. She was still having a hard time believing all the tattoos on his body and the pierced ears too. "Is she aware of what happened?"

"She _was_ a muggle," was all Draco presented as an answer before pursing his lips into a thin line.

While Pansy and Hermione were busy gaping at him, because seriously, they were still having a hard time believing what they'd seen this far, let alone to find out that he'd gone and married a muggle, Harry was chiding himself. Why hadn't the mother ever occurred to him? Not that he'd ever get a chance to meet her anyway but still, he'd been obsessing over Draco himself so much and perhaps a little bit over his children that the fact that Draco could have a partner never came to his mind.

Once the initial shock passed Pansy was about to ask something when someone knocked the door. Hermione clicked it open with a quick spell and let the new healer-in-training in.

"Umm, there's someone who wants to see you," he managed to stutter, before two familiar faces entered pushing the poor new guy aside.

Seeing Hermione's jaw drop slightly Draco turned to look. Instead of dropping his jaw he dropped his eyelids, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration before opening them again. He couldn't believe his luck. His life was turning into a public spetacle and it was all Potter's fault.


	9. Oldest Malfoys Meeting the Youngest Malfoys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! I'll start fixing the older chapters soon. For now I'm dropping this new chapter for you guys :)

Two slender figures stood in front of him, both of them dressed up in expensive looking black robes. The woman looked at him with tears in her eyes and the man's expression was blank, although Draco had known him long enough to notice the twitch of the jaw. Most probably because of his appearance.

"Mother, father," he greeted them. Feeling how tense he'd become upon seeing them. He hadn't been so tense since... Since the day he'd waited for the doctor to call him into her office all those years ago.

"Draco, my child!" Narcissa let out a sob and approached her son to pull him into a hug, not caring about the tattoos or the piercings at all.

"How are you mother?" He managed to choke, he hadn't realized before how much he'd missed her.

"I'm better now," he heard her whisper.

A curt cough made Narcissa stop clinging to her son. She stepped aside so her husband could have his turn too. Draco had expected for his father to pin him down with a condescending stare. Instead his father, never being a man of openly shown affection, gave him a tight lipped smile.

"Draco, I'm glad you came back," he said patting his son's shoulder.

"How did you even know I'm here?" Draco asked, glad to see his parents in a less hostile environment but still confused by their sudden appearance.

"It was on the Prophet," Narcissa answered.

"Prophet? When the hell did they find out about that? I just came this morning," his eyes began to dart around the room. When he'd rushed in with his children that morning he hadn't even thought about the wizarding world. Only thing he knew was that his children were attacked magically and it was beyond his abilities to fix it so he had to rush to St. Mungo's immediately.

Despite knowing better he couldn't help suddenly feeling wary of everyone in the room. Chances were that Pansy might have gotten the stupid idea of announcing to everyone about the return of the Malfoy heir. But then again, it could easily be Potter with his recent nosiness.

"It wasn't today's issue, it was a special issue. I guess printed right afterwards," the new healer-in-training finally spoke up. He accio-ed the special issue he'd been reading before the older Malfoys came, and handed it to Draco.

The "special issue" was basically just a damn flier with 'The Prophet' written above his photo from Hogwarts days, enlarged to take up about half of the page. Underneath it there was a witness' story of how they heard Harry call someone Malfoy and realized that the mystery man himself was standing there punching Harry to the dreamland.

He sighed, of course, he should've realized it. St. Mungo's was full of people and while he might've kept his anonymity the Golden Boy couldn't and if he even whispered the ex-Death Eater's name his loyal fans would hear it like a scream. For a moment he felt like punching Potter's other eye black too, though it wouldn't help, Hermione had already healed the first eye, besides he was already looking scandalous enough for his parents. He didn't need to give them a heart attack by showing them how much living with muggles, specifically his loud and happy-go-lucky wife, had changed his composure.

He returned the flier to the healer who took it from him, a strange look in his eyes. Drwco wasn't completely unused to weird looks since he'd gotten enough of those during his last year in Hogwarts and even after leaving, but this look was different from the ones he'd gotten back then. In Hogwarts he'd been looked down upon while the muggles looked at him (only in the beginning of his muggle life) as if they were contemplating whether he'd grown up in a cult out of touch with modern life or if he needed a psychiatrist. This look was different. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what it meant but he wasn't in the mood of dwelling on it. He needed to dwell on the information Hermione was going to give him.

Ignoring the stare, his parents and Potter, he turned back to Pansy and Hermione. However, before he could ask them to continue his mother interrupted.

"What's wrong with my Draco?" She asked Hermione, furrowing her brows in worry.

Draco felt frantic again. They shouldn't know about it, Hermione couldn't tell them. He tried to use his expressions to tell Hermione to keep her mouth shut but the woman wasn't even looking in his direction. 

"Nothing's wrong with Malfoy. His children were attacked this morning."

Malfoy wanted to AK Hermione right then and there. Or himself.

"Children? Draco you have children?" Narcissa had turned to look at her son in wonder. Her eyes full of wonder and excitement. She had, not just a grandchild, but grand _children_.

"Yes, two of them," Malfoy huffed. But the excited smile on his mother's face made him feel better. It had been so long since he'd seen his mother smile so openly. Though it did nothing to wipe the anxiousness in his mind entirely.

But as soon as the smile appeared on her face it disappeared. "Did you say they were attacked? What happened? How are they?" Narcissa shot questions at both him and Hermione, the frantic edge in her voice obvious to only her son and husband.

"They're fine, mrs. Malfoy. It was just the Renaissance spell. And we were able to stop the de-aging in time," Hermione assured the older woman. Draco noticed his father shifting, he hadn't realized his father had been as tense as his mother. Oh, well, he was going to get a next heart attack soon as Draco knew what they'd ask next and what it would result to.

"Can we see them?"

Bullseye.

"Of course," Pansy said. Smiling she lead them like a gaggle of geese back to the room. Draco was starting to get annoyed but there was no helping it. Putting up a fight had been proving useless since morning. Besides now that he'd confirmed his children were safe he was in no hurry. If Hermione's calculations were right then his children will be "born" in a week or two. He had enough money to exchange so he could practically stay at the hospital only going out for meals (if St. Mungo's allowed that) and then he'd be able to return home. By then even the Auror's should be ready with their inspections as not much had happened except Draco scaring off the intruder a bit too late.

As they entered the room, much to Malfoy's chagrin Narcissa and Lucius noticed the orb first. And as soon as they saw it, even his parents began to gawk at it as if they'd never seen a child. Or whatever was Malfoy's definition of a child.

They hadn't, but it didn't matter. His children were to be admired not be gawked at.

Next Pansy diverted their attention to the tube his daughter was in. It made his parents whisper to each other in voices so low that even Pansy, who was standing right next to them and had unusually sharp ears, couldn't hear them. Once they were done discussing Pansy went on to explain how this was an unusual case of having siblings together in the first place, but also having twins in two different forms, and both of them de-aging all the way to the point of being fertilized eggs. Usually other victims had de-aged to being newborns before perishing away entirely. Suddenly, Hermione's yelp made Pansy stop. While everyone else had been listening to Pansy and Draco had been cringing in annoyance, she had went and done a quick check up, Draco's glare still fresh in her mind and the weird faces he'd made that she'd actually noticed from the corner of her eyes but chosen to ignore.

"What is it Hermione?" She asked, now concerned.

"Could you please check the tube for me?" Hermione said, still frowning over the readings she was getting. She wasn't sure but it seemed like the orb had grown and lost some of its magical core and the other twin had grown and gained a magical core where previously there had been none.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, not enough Harry. We'll get to him soon though. These characters have decided to rebel and go completely against my original outline. Also I'm having a bit trouble with the chronology. But yeah, well soon get to the Drarry parts.


	10. Inviting Trouble

Both Hermione and Pansy recognised a stubborn person when they saw one. Working in St. Mungo's had improved this particular skill of theirs. At first Hermione's request had scared everyone but as soon as Pansy had begun to test the babies again she calmed all the Malfoys and Harry telling them that they just noticed that the babies were growing faster than they had initially thought. And that instead of months they'll take several weeks to grow back. Pansy soon turned back to them and confirmed what Hermione said and kept all the new discoveries to herself just like Hermione had. It made Draco's features light up in hope, making both Pansy and Hermione feel slightly guilty even though they had no reason to. They then returned to Hermione's office where a new uncomfortable situation was waiting for Draco.

"You could've gotten some more time but since the children seem to be growing faster than expected. You'll have to move in to live with someone instead of settling down on your own," Hermione said as soon as they all managed to crowd around her table.

"Settle down?" Draco was confused.

"Yes, settle down. The womb room was created to de-age the patients after we had stopped the de-aging induced by the curse. But we keep the patients here only until they are born again. After that we send them back home with instructions and also visit the patients for weekly check ups."

"We have our own place already," Draco explained, wondering what made Hermione think he'd have to settle down or move in with someone else.

"Yes, I'm aware of it. You made it quite clear that Harry lead the wizard to _your house_ , but I heard you talking to Ron this morning. You have no wards around the house, no traces of magic at all. If I remember correctly you also mentioned that since the twins are squibs even you don't perform any kind of magic."

"That is correct," Draco confirmed.

"But Renaissance patients need a magical environment to heal since their own magic can't help in that. And your children don't even have any magical capabilities," Pansy explained. She left the crucial information about Renaissance unsaid, the patients had to be wizards or witches to be able to survive the curse. Squibs and humans wouldn't have even de-aged, they would've died straight away.

Draco thought about it and then said, "Well, if all it takes is performing a little magic and putting up some wards then I'm sure a week would be more than enough for it."

"It won't be, because we need to add some additional wards for treatment and that takes about a week and during that week no other magic can be performed in the house."

"Oh, I understand now," Draco said, "Would it really be impossible for you to keep them here for only another week?"

"Unfortunately yes. The magic in here isn't powerful enough. Besides we have to put the wards around the whole building which might affect the other patients we're trying to de-age safely. Also there are the other patient's who need the magical environment as well."

"So it's like cheap Wi-Fi," Draco muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"So then I will have to move in with someone?" Draco asked, less to Hermione and more to himself. As if he was trying to convince himself that it was only for good.

"Yes."

"Do you have any volunteers or contacts who might want to take me and my children in?" Draco asked, feeling worried all over again.

"Why would you need any volunteers when you have us Draco darling!" Narcissa finally cut in. She couldn't believe her son would ever consider any other place than the Malfoy Manor.

No one in the room missed how the hopeful look in Draco's eyes changed into horror. Narcissa and Lucius didn't miss that either. It wasn't a mystery why he'd look like that, last time he'd been in the manor was when it had been infested by Voldemort and his followers. After that he'd stayed in France and in Hogwarts and the only time after that he'd been in Manor he'd left the wizarding world for good.

"Of course the environment there has changed a lot over the years. And it's big enough to have the healers stay there too. Besides we have house elves who can take care of the meals and other medication," Narcissa quickly added, in hopes to calm her son down.

But it didn't help. The torn look on Draco's face was obvious to everyone. On one hand it was true that Malfoy Manor, given its history of strong purebloods residing there, had quite some magic stored in its environment, but on the other hand Draco wasn't sure if he could return there under any circumstances. Harry saw the internal fight reflect on Draco's face. He felt bad for the man. He remembered the time when he'd left after the war because every place he knew had held so many negative memories. It had taken him time and a little therapy to be able to return to even Hogwarts. And even longer to Grimmauld Place or even Burrow.

Harry wondered how much Draco had managed to recover from the war over the years. Suddenly he felt overwhelmingly bad for the man and before he could think what he was doing he'd opened his mouth.

"He could come and stay at Grimmauld Place," he heard himself say and before either Narcissa or Lucius could say anything he continued, "It's big enough and I'm sure has more magic in the environment than the Manor (which wasn't a lie). Besides I have renovated it to be more my style in other words more Muggle friendly. I think a slightly familiar environment would help the children on the longer run."

Despite the slightly negative reactions everyone seemed to agree. Lucius making a weird kind of face upon the reminder that his grandchildren had grown in muggle environment. Narcissa gave Harry a slightly appalled but approving nod. Hermione's mix was shocked but approving nod. The only ones to look at him with pure gratefulness were Pansy and Draco.

Harry knew he was inviting trouble in but there was no helping it anymore. He couldn't bring himself to come up with any excuses to take the offer back after seeing the unsaid 'thank you' in the grey eyes that had once only held anger and contempt for him.


	11. Dirty Rooms and Smartphones

Harry felt embarrassed. He'd entirely forgotten that Grimmauld Place was far from presentable state. The previous night he'd decided to clean up the house after lunch when Albus would be taking his daytime naps. Ron had dragged him before he could even get started with his breakfast. Given the silence Harry guessed Molly had only come in to take Albus with her since she had her own things to deal with at the Burrow.

He glanced at Draco fearing the inevitable sneer he'd get from the ex-Slytherin, but there was no sneer or even a flicker of that Malfoy pride in his eyes. Instead the man was looking back at him waiting for Harry to show him to the room he'd be using for his children.

"Sorry about the mess," Harry laughed nervously as he walked through the hallway and past the kitchen and the living room.

Draco mumbled something that sounded like 'it's not that bad'. Harry wasn't sure if he'd imagined hearing Draco mutter about his own house being in even worse condition.

He led Draco to the guest room. It was a fairly big room with large windows. The light streaming through the curtains gave the room an illusion of being slightly bigger than it already was. Luckily, this one room wasn't messy. Harry rarely got any guests and it was the only room Kreacher was allowed to look after without asking Harry for a daily permission.

"It's nice and big enough for both of them," Draco said as he took in the view.

Right underneath one of the windows there was a desk. On it's right side there was an empty bookshelf and on it's left side a tiny trash can. The bed was queen sized but since Draco wasn't much of a mover when he slept he figured it would be big enough for all of them for now.

Harry watched Draco's eyes sliding over the furniture in the room, the disapproving glint still missing in them.

"There's also a bathroom inside. Makes life easier for the guests," Harry added, vaguely pointing his hand at the direction where he knew the bathroom door was.

Draco turned to look at the direction, with a questioning glance he asked for permission to check it out. When Harry nodded he opened the door to check if the bathroom was good enough. He was ready to take embarrassing photos of his children but not the wrath if they found that they'd had to use a bathroom not suitable enough for their tastes. Curse Vesta for being even more picky than Draco unless she was the one causing the mess.

It wasn't perfect but Draco was sure his children wouldn't throw a hissy fit. Switching the lights off and closing the door he turned to Harry. The legendary Malfoy sneer was missing and in its place a small smile was adorning his face.

"Thank you, Potter. This is perfect," he said, although his mind was already whirring on how soon it would be appropriate to ask Harry to change a few little things. Besides there were a few more questions he needed to ask Hermione that he couldn't ask during whatever the morning in St. Mungo's was supposed to be. Hermione had used up all the time she could on Draco and her other patients were waiting for her. They hadn't even had the time to go through the instructions. But Pansy had promised she'd come over later to set up the wards.

"I'm glad you like it," Harry was relieved. So far they'd managed to stay civil around each other. Though Harry was sure it was because Draco was still shocked from the events of that morning. He summoned Kreacher.

"Kreacher, this is Draco Malfoy—" Harry trailed off unsure whether Draco wanted to go by the alias or his real name. Draco just shrugged. The alias was handy in muggle world but here it held no weight, specially after the "special issue" of Prophet.

Harry continued, "he'll be living here for a while. Starting from today. You will take care of all of his needs while he's staying here."

"Is he young master Malfoy?" Kreacher asked eyeing the man, clearly disapproving the way he'd dressed up.

"Yes, he is young master Malfoy" Harry confirmed Kreacher's suspicions, almost missing how Draco flinched at it as he sent the house elf away so he could finish the round with Malfoy.

Once Kreacher was gone he turned to Draco, "So I guess, that's it. You can already start settling here. And if you need anything then you can just summon Kreacher."

Harry noticed that the small smile on Draco's lips had melted away and something similar to the blank face he'd often had when they were young slipped back. "Thank you Potter," he said with a nod then he added, "and please don't call me that. It's been years since anyone called me that and it sounds rather stupid."

Harry nodded, making a mental note to not call Draco that ever again. Draco seemed to be quite intent of wiping the name away from his life and Harry had no reason of rubbing it into Draco's face.

He left the room with Draco following him as he showed rest of the house and where Draco could find different things. Once the impromptu house tour was over Draco asked for Harry's phone number for emergency situations. He'd earlier seen Pansy use one when Blaise called her so he'd figured that the wizarding world had made some progress over the years. Though he was surprised that Pansy didn't own one of the latest models.

"Yeah, sure," Harry dug his phone out, as he never remembered his number. As he began to tell Draco his number he noticed the man was staring at his phone and finally the familiar sneer was on his face. Harry raised an eyebrow, demanding an explanation for the sudden snicker.

"Seriously Potter? The hero of wizarding world uses that fossil?" Draco explained as he dug his own phone out.

He'd been right, compared to Draco's sleek silver couloured smarthphone Harry's cell phone looked like a fossil.

"You know that magically altering muggle technology is hard," Harry spat back, suddenly feeling glad to have the familiar Malfoy back.

"Oh, come on, you guys had eighteen years. Not even feature phones? Besides they could already alter tellies before I left so don't give me the crap of it being hard," Draco said, the sneer still glued to his face. But by now Harry was busy staring at his hands.

The phone was impressive. But Draco's fingers were even more impressive. Harry couldn't help staring as his long slender fingers glided over the screen. He snapped out of it when he heard Draco's voice again.

"I know this phone is impressive, but it's not even the latest model so stop staring at it and give me the number, Potter."

Harry was glad that Draco misunderstood what he'd been staring at. He could feel his cheeks flushing but ignoring it he opened the contacts and searched for his own name. It didn't take even a minute and Draco had saved his number. Then he called Harry so the latter could save his number.

"There we go," Draco said, unable to suppress the snicker when he heard a variant of the familiar Nokia tune play from Harry's phone when it received the call.

Cutting the call Harry saved the number, annoyed at the snicker. He wasn't even snickering at the state of the house then why snicker at the phone or the ringtone? Harry didn't realize that he'd grumbled that out loud before Draco answered.

"Because, Potter, a house with children of any age always looks like the aftermath of a battle and I should know it better than you because I've got two monsters to take care of at once. But wizards still using those is just hilarious, specially with the Nokia tune."

Harry wanted to smack the formerly blond man on the back of his head (playfully of course), but he kept his composure. They weren't friends, they'd never been on friendly terms even when there'd been a truce between them. He had no idea why he was suddenly being so flustered around Draco and acting as if they were the best of friends. Though he had to admit that the playful banter they had as Harry saw Draco to the door was far more enjoyable than the banters they had when they were young and always on the edge of hexing each other.


	12. Baby Onesies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, I haven't given up on this monstrosity. Keep suffering my dear readers.

The following noon Harry was cleaning up the house frantically. The previous day after Draco had left Pansy had come over to set up the wards and she hadn't been as kind as Draco about the state of the house.

For once he'd even asked Kreacher to help him out. Harry had no idea when Draco would come over as he'd been too distracted by the phone conversation to ask something as important as "when are you going to come to invade my house, that I, to be honest, am letting you invade with your two babies?". Now that Harry thought about it he hadn't even considered the fact that Draco was going to bring _two_ babies. Just having Albus in the house was a lot at times.

It wasn't that Harry hated his son or that he was a bad father, but if it hadn't been for Molly he would've gone mad by now. Of course, Draco was going to be there for his own babies but there were two babies. Only one baby was more than enough to keep two adults on their toes (see the dark circles under Ron and Hermione's eyes in the photo album for Rose), now there would be three for two adults.

Besides Harry had no idea what type of parent Draco was. If Lucius was any indicator then Kreacher would have to play the role of a nanny too. Or maybe Draco was one of those overbearing parents who wouldn't leave their children down for a moment. _Like Narcissa_ , his brains supplied. Sighing at his own stupidity for melting at the sight of frantic Draco Harry finished cleaning the living room. Sneering or not he didn't want Draco to see the mess he'd turned his life into.

He'd wanted to leave some essentials into the guest room but Albus' diapers were too big and there were no unused baby bottles. Harry had no idea where Albus' old clothes were otherwise he could've left some of the better ones for the babies too but then again their snobby father might not approve of Harry's 'plebeian' tastes. Even Ginny made faces at the onesies Harry bought for Albus whenever she would spend time with her son.

Maybe he should just go and buy some of the things. A pair of onesies for the children and a packet of diapers. He wondered if the twins needed two separate bottles or whether one would be enough. Would there even be two babies? One of them was a glowing orb for Merlin's sake! Does the orb require any normal baby necessities? Harry wondered if it was true that some rare pureblood's gave birth to orbs. He wondered if Draco had been an orb too. Maybe Draco had been a grey one, like his eyes were and it would be quite suitable given Draco's personality. A steely light grey orb.

Just as he was going to get ready for the shopping trip the doorbell rang. When he got downstairs Kreacher had already opened the door, to Draco.

"Potter," Draco greeted him.

"Malfoy," Harry greeted back.

Draco had changed his clothes. Today he was wearing a white long sleeved shirt under a red vest hoodie and red skinny jeans with white sneakers. His hair was tamed into nice waves framing his slender face and if Harry was right he'd changed the lip ring into a red one to match rest of the outfit. He was holding a large hideously yellow bag with strange cartoon figures on it. Harry couldn't help staring at the purple, green, yellow and red figures smiling creepily back at him.

"Uh, I brought some stuff. I hope it's fine if I bring them now.

Draco looked as embarrassed as Harry had felt the previous day. He was pointedly avoiding looking down at the bag hanging down his shoulder. Harry recognized it as a diaper bag as Hermione had called hers. Although Hermione's was much more trendy and stylish. He would've thought that they'd swapped bags. It was much more like Hermione to use such bags than Draco. Harry didn't even have one to begin with. He used his old gym bag as a diaper bag.

"Yeah, no problem. You can leave it in the room," Harry said, stepping aside from the stairs. 

Draco had hoped that he wouldn't walk into Harry but then again it was Harry's house and he'd be living with the man for a few months. All the confidence from the previous day was gone as the urgency of the previous day was over. With a slight nod he headed upstairs. It felt strange to be in someone else's house after spending years in his own. Specially when that someone was his old rival. The aurors had let him back only to get some of the babies' clothes but he wasn't allowed to return there yet. Not that he was going to anyway. His flat was entirely muggle, he didn't even have a floo in there. If he hadn't honed his wandless magic skills by now his children would've had perished into atoms. The thought made Draco shudder.

Luckily they weren't. He'd been to St. Mungo's in the morning to check up on his children. They had already become fetuses overnight. Well, his daughter had and he knew his son had. He was as big as Draco remembered from when Vesta had felt the connection. He'd been worried about the connection. He didn't want anyone at the hospital to find anything out, but some vague questions assured that none of the physical things would repeat. But apparently the returning memories will affect how they would act during the treatment but other than that nothing would be gone since it's a magically induced illness.

Draco was relieved. No one would know a thing and his children would keep the damn body modifications. Another thing apart from the bathroom that had been bothering him. He could already imagine them whining about the lost jewellery and the closed piercings and the faded tattoos.

"I thought you'd buy new clothes for them. I would've bought a pair just in case but I wasn't sure if you'd like them."

Draco hadn't realized that Harry had followed him and been there all the time as he unpacked the bag.

"Thank you, Potter. But if they get their memories back then they'd insist on wearing these, so new ones are out of the question. _Daddy, where's my Maya the bee undie?_ " he mimicked his son as he got the Maya the Bee pyjamas out of the bag, making Harry huff in amusement. 

"Aren't those a little big?" Harry asked, frowning at the size of the pyjamas.

"Yeah. Hermione said that they'd grow a year in a week. The bag was big enough to bring clothes for the first three or four weeks. I'll have to go back after that for more."

Harry did the mental calculation, Draco had brought clothes for a month. He hadn't realized that he'd end up having Draco at his home for so long. Then he realized that Draco had brought only clothes and supplies for the children.

"You didn't bring anything for yourself?"

"No, I wanted to first make sure I have everything for the children. I still have about five days for my own things before the brats are reborn," Draco said.

"Brats?" Harry asked, quirking his eyebrow.

"Yes, brats. Monsters, devils, anything annoying under the sun," Draco said, but his smile was full of warmth.

As Draco didn't shoo him off, Harry stood there watching him. He'd never expected to see such an expression on Draco's face. Draco was taking the pieces of clothing one by one and looking at them with a nostalgic expression. It was obvious that each of those clothes held a lot of memories. Suddenly Harry felt an itch to sit down and ask what stories each of them told but he quickly killed the thought, with a metaphorical stick. He was not going to behave like those mothers at the park who had nothing better to do than brag about their children and be nosy about others'.

He was about to turn on his heels when Draco let out an audible snort. He turned back to see the man leering at a onesie. Draco seemed to feel Harry's curious eyes on him and still smiling he turned the clearly old and well worn onesie at the man.

'Of course I'm cute, Just look at my DADDY'

Harry couldn't help the smile either. Draco and cute? Never. Draco wasn't cute, but he wasn't bad looking either. He was slender, and beautiful and he had pretty lashes, and it was a train of thoughts Harry crashed right there. Instead he schooled his expression to hide the blush.

"I'm sure it was your idea," he said hoping to sound as snarky as he used to back in Hogwarts. But Draco, who had turned back to admire the onesie as if he'd never seen it before, didn't notice it.

"Actually no, for once I was being modest, it was Vesta's idea. She'd bought it for Scorp. And there's also one with 'MOMMY' on it for Hessie."

Draco put the onesie into the wardrobe and rifled through his bag until he found what he was looking for. A similar onesie but with 'MOMMY' written on it. He showed it to Harry still leering like an idiot.

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to this one. But he didn't need to as Draco covered it for him.

"I bought this one as a retaliation. Should've seen Vesta's face. _I'm not cute. I'm cool. This is wrong. Embarrassing. Mr. Malfoy go and get this changed or I swear you'll regret it. I'm not cute._ " Draco mimicked his wife as he put the onesie with the other one and dug into the bag for another piece of clothing.

Although he felt slightly weirded out by Draco's behavior he also felt a pang of jealousy. He felt like he was standing outside a window, peering in to look at a happy family gathered around a Christmas tree. It was supposed to be like this for him and Ginny too. Harry still didn't understand where they went wrong.

Deep in his thoughts he didn't realize that Draco had finished unpancking his things.

"Earth to Potter," he said after he had snapped his fingers right under Harry's nose.

"Uh, sorry. What were you saying?"

"I asked if it's okay if I stay here from tonight?" Draco asked nervously, "I'd go back home but there are still traces of magic so the aurors will only let me in to get whatever I need for now. I could stay at a hotel but well—"

"Well?" Harry asked, although he didn't mind Draco staying. Having the man around beforehand would make the transition easy for Albus too. They'd have to learn to get along if Harry was letting Draco stay.

"Another pathetic special issue of Prophet."


	13. Moving in with Potter

It was nothing what Harry had imagined it would be like. Then again even he wasn't sure what he'd imagined Malfoy moving in with him would be like. There were next to no awkward moments as Draco came every evening with the diaper bag, only to slip into the guest room, spend a little time time emptying it and then he'd go to sleep after refusing Harry's offer for dinner, saying that he'd had his meal already. That's the only time Harry saw him. The following morning he would be gone before Harry woke up. Upon asking Kreacher Harry found out that Draco didn't even eat the breakfast Kreacher offered to him.

However, he understood that it must be hard for Draco to suddenly move in with his old rival into a house that should belong to his family. So he never pushed the matter. If Draco needed time then Harry could give it to him. Besides the man wasn't really affecting his and Albus' daily routine at all so it wasn't that bad. Only interruption was Pansy's visit to check and modify the new wards.

Or at least it hadn't been that bad until the remaining five days had passed.

Hermione had summoned them to the hospital as the babies had already been 'born'. When Harry arrived Draco was already there keeping himself busy with the twins, clearly trying to avoid Hermione's questions.

" _Granger-Weasley_ I already told you it's a pure blood thing. You wouldn't understand. As you said yourself the child is alive and safe and there's nothing to worry about so drop the topic."

"Malfoy I have done enough studies to know that purebloods don't give birth to orbs."

Well, that was the end for Harry's fantasies of Draco as a light grey orb. Draco ignored her question in favour of cradling a pink squirming bundle. The annoyed expression on his face melted in a mere millisecond as Draco proceeded to coo at the little fussy child. For a moment a strange warmth took over Harry too as he looked at the two of them. He watched as Draco bent forward to pick up a blue bundle. It took him a little effort to adjust them both in his arms but once it was done he began to sway both of the children together at the same time, cooing at them. Still blatantly ignoring Hermione.

"Malfoy—"

"Listen. And listen to me carefully," Malfoy finally snapped, "There is a reason we took pride in our pure blood status. We are not just any purebloods. I am both a Malfoy and a Black. There are many things that you won't understand."

He halted a little when Hermione winced.

"Not because you're not a pure blood," he hurried to explain, "but because purebloods, specially the ones with a lineage similar to ours, don't let many of their secrets out. You've gotten a chance to see one yourself now be happy and leave me alone!"

Hermione huffed in anger, "But I need to know if this is going to affect him in any way. We're already risking a lot with the basic medication I don't want his orb form to cause any further complications. Besides I asked your parents and they said they've never heard of any orbs in your lineage"

It was Draco's turn to wince now. Orb form? Orb form?! Hermione made it sound as if his son was a bloody Pokémon.

"I have been a father for much longer than you have even planned on having children. I have been through this once. And I know. This disease is just de-aging and re-aging a little. Isn't it?"

"Yes, but!"

"Yes, so leave it to me. I have been through this once, and now I'm going through this again. He's perfectly fine. He isn't even an orb anymore. Look at him, he's a perfectly healthy little boy, minus the chubbiness he'd had when Vesta had given birth to him."

Harry chose that moment to make them aware of his presence.

"Mione you asked me to come?" He asked, but his eyes were glued on the little blue bundle in Draco's arms.

"Oh. Hi, Harry! Yes, yes I did ask you to come."

The relief washing over Draco didn't go unnoticed by Harry.

"As you can see the children are ready to be taken to Grimmauld Place and we need to discuss a few things."

"Discuss? I thought Draco would just bring them in."

"But we have to think of your son too, Potter. They're newborns and their presence might affect him," Draco quipped in. Harry felt the earlier fuzzy feeling return into his chest but he chose to ignore it. Of course, Draco remembered Albus. He was a father too. In fact, as he'd said himself only a moment ago, he'd been a father for far longer than Harry had imagined being one. So naturally he took these things into consideration.

"There's not much to worry about Albus," Hermione said, the thoughtful and slightly annoyed frown still on her face, "your children are growing quite fast. Faster than the usual Reneissance patients do so Albus will only cry over not growing as fast as they do. But Harry will have to work a little. He'll have to change the wards according to the instructions I'll give him now. As your children grow we'll have to update the wards to suit their needs. Also Pansy mentioned some unusual safety wards that might cause issues, so we need to talk about those too."

The three of them spent the better part of the day discussing the safety wards set up long ago for Harry's safety. The hero crave had faded long ago and Harry didn't really need many of the wards anymore. Most of them remained now ,as Ron said, to keep 'Skeeter and co.' at bay. Around noon Hermione had taken a break and while Harry enjoyed his sandwich Hermione explained how the returning memories might affect the children and which potions he'd have to administer to them in such situations. There were also some other potions he'd have to feed to the children.

"So the blue one in the morning, green one at night. Orange one at the end of the week, but you'll remind me of that. And the yellow ones each time they get a headache," Draco repeated for the umpteenth time, making sure he'd gotten it right.

"Yes, the children don't grow exactly a year in a week, only approximately. So I'll have to check the dosage of the orange one at the end of every week. But rest of them are standard dosages so you'll just have to feed it to them."

Draco just nodded. Then thanking Hermione for her time and insight he got up and left Hermione's office with his children. As Draco carried his children Harry helped him carry the diaper bag filled with the clinking potion vials.

 

*****

 

Several hours later Harry felt like hexing Draco to the moon. Ever since coming back from hospital he'd been locked up in the guest room. Not that Harry really had a reason to mind. But having a group of people in his house and not being able to even feel their presence was getting annoying. And on top of it Albus was being cranky, not giving him a single moment of break.

He was trying to make Albus stop crying but to no avail. The boy would fumble something through sobs and then he'd start crying on top of his lungs again. He'd been so worried about Draco's children turning his life upside down but now he was worried of Albus turning their treatment upside down. He'd been to the Burrow enough many times to know how one baby could easily trigger a chain reaction of any emotions among the other babies too. Either all of them start cooing together or, more usually, just wail.

His fears were confirmed when Draco, for the first time that evening, got out of his room. Harry noticed him only after he'd come all the way downstairs into the living room where Harry was pacing with his son.

"Being a bit fussy, isn't he?" Draco asked, warily standing about a meter away from Harry.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, he must be keeping the babies up," Harry said, feeling a little flustered.

"Don't be. They're sleeping like logs. Granger-Weasley wasn't kidding me when she said that they'd be out cold most of the time in the beginning. I had no idea babies sleep so much since Vesta took care of that."

Harry had already noticed Draco call Hermione Granger-Weasley instead of just Granger. But before he could comment on it Albus started wailing again. Harry cast a worried glance at the staircase.

"Don't be worried, they were naturally good sleepers and this disease is sucking all the remaining juices anyway," Draco said.

He took a tentative step towards Harry who'd already learnt that it was an attempt to interact with the baby. He usually didn't let people close to Albus but Draco was different. Instead, Harry turned to face Draco properly giving the man an access to Albus.

To Harry's surprise Draco didn't reach out to take Albus into his arms instead he carefully put his finger into Albus' mouth. Harry would've pulled his son away immediately but whatever Draco was doing seemed to stop Albus' crying.

"You're teething aren't you, little one," Draco cooed at Albus, his entire attention fixed on the child. Instead of answering Albus just gnawed at his finger.

As Albus kept gnawing at Draco's finger he shifted his attention at Harry, "He's a year old. I think Granger-Weasley mentioned that."

"Yeah," Harry said, unable to keep his eyes from the weird display in front of him.

"A bit of a late bloomer. But it doesn't matter so we're mine. Took them ages to start talking, luckily Vesta was there to hear their first words, I was rotting in the evening classes that day. You should buy him a teething ring. It'll make your life easier."

For a moment Harry felt like he wasn't talking to Draco but Luna. His voice strange, different than the usual sharp tone. He jumped from one topic to another through each sentence, all of them related to each other but still having a strange gap between the context. However, he was pulled back into the situation when Draco nudged him again. Albus was yawning. Shooting Draco a greatful smile Harry escaped into Albus' nursery to put him to sleep.

By the time Harry had put Albus to sleep and gotten out of the nursery he'd hoped to see Draco gone. But the man was sitting on the couch leisurely turning the pages of one of the various Quidditch magazines that Harry had lying around the entire house. Unfortunately for Harry, the nursery door was right opposite to the couch so anyone sitting on it could see the door and people passing through it. Just like Draco had noticed Harry and put the magazine away. He looked like he wanted to say something to Harry but Harry was still flustered from earlier and as eager as he'd felt earlier at the prospect of talking to Draco he wasn't ready to do that anymore. With a quick acknowledging smile he began to makes his way towards the stairs when Draco stopped him.

"Potter."

"Yes?" Harry turned back, cursing his luck.

"I should've done this earlier but I guess we both have been too busy skirting around each other and I had to get everything settled. But well, what I want to say is thank you for letting me and my children stay here," Draco said and meant it too.

"It's nothing. Really. I'm sure you would've done the same if it had been Albus, I'm just glad that your children are safe."

"No, Potter, I mean it. I understand that our past as rivals is making it hard for you and having a death eater in your house with your child must be nerve wrecking. I truly am grateful and I'd really appreciate it if we could have a new, proper beginning."

"Draco, you being a death eater has nothing to do with this, neither our past as rivals. We already got over it during our last year in Hogwarts. It's just everything happened so suddenly. On top of it everything that's happened in the past week is my fault."

Frankly speaking, Harry hadn't really paid that much mind to their past rivalry. Sure he thought of Draco as his past rival but it was out of habit. Besides, only now after saying it out loud Harry realized that maybe Draco wasn't the only one skulking around. He was doing that too. If he'd wanted to see the man so much he could've just woken up earlier or talked to him all those evenings when he closed himself up in the guestroom. He did feel guilty for being the one to lead Draco's children into danger, and he was scared to face Draco.

However, to his good luck Draco seemed to be handling it quite well. If anyone had ever been a part of Albus getting harmed, no matter directly or indirectly, Harry would've handled it much worse. He wouldn't have settled for just a punch. He would've AK-ed the person right then and there.

Draco just shrugged his shoulders, not denying Harry's part in the whole thing. Which made Harry feel a little unsettled. Anyone else in his place would've been consoling Harry, tell him it wasn't his fault or that he couldn't have known. It felt nice, albeit a little daunting that Malfoy wasn't mollycoddling him.

"Well, yes, it was your fault. But it's not like we can undo it. And it's not like you had to offer your place. We could've gone to the Manor," Draco said shivering at the thought, but as soon as the grimace had darkened his features it also left and in its place was a small smile. Draco held his hand out as a friendly gesture, for a new beginning.

Harry felt ashamed. If only Draco knew that he'd offered it to save Draco from that moment and not to help his children. Grudgingly he took a hold of Draco's hand and gave it a small shake. And he was glad he did it as the small smile on Draco's face spread into a wider one.

"Becoming good buddies I see," Pansy broke the tiny moment, making the men nearly jump out of their skin.

"Pansy? What are you doing here at this hour?" Harry asked, his hadn't still clinging to Draco's.

Harry should've known better than to give Pansy an access to his floo. Somehow the woman managed to always slink in at the most inconvenient times. Like now, or that one time when— Harry decided against thinking of it, but it suffices to say that somehow despite being only second in ranking (Hermione and Ron were tied at first) among his friends she had seen more than either Ron or Hermione had.

"I came here because Hermione is too frit to come here herself," Pansy said, not surprised at all by the fact that the men were still clinging to each other's grips.

"And why would she be scared to come here?" Harry asked.

"Why are you holding hands like you're out on a date?" Pansy shot back, finally making the men aware of their nearly white knuckles.

They both let go at the same time. Draco frowning and Harry flustered.

"So what about Hermione?" Harry asked again.

"She wants to discuss a few more things with Draco, but ever since Draco's display of newly acquired barbaric habits she's been a bit unsure about approaching him. Thus 'tis I who had to come here after only a day's rest from my one month long trip," Pansy said, somehow managing to gloat about her romantic getaway with Blaise in the same sentence too.

Draco looked frustrated, "Pans, what on earth does Granger-Weasley want now?" He grumbled without noticing the slip. Still frowning at his friend.

However, neither Pansy nor Harry missed it and for a moment Pansy froze on her spot. After Draco had vanished she never let anyone call her by that nickname, except Blaise. But Blaise preferred to not use it either. Years later finally hearing Draco say it pulled at her heartstrings. Oh, how she'd missed him all these years. But to not spook him up Pansy gained control of herself and smirked at the men.

"So you learned to use her name. I thought you'd be stuck at Granger. To be honest I was looking forward to it as she seems to get quite riled up when someone does that."

"Well, can't deny that it's a mouthful, but it's her name so I have to call her by that," Draco shrugged his shoulders again, waiting for Pansy to get to the point.

Which she swiftly did.

"Oh, I just came to check on the children since it's their first day outside of the hospital."

"Oh, I see," Draco said.

"Also your children have been giving us surprises through every step of the treatment this far, so I was wondering if there was any today. Despite being a very unusual illness it's very easy to treat if the treatment is started early on. However, your children have changed the whole deal. Their pace is faster, one of the is an orb and," Pansy added with an ominous lilt, "During the initial check ups we realized that your daughter was conceived muggle but later she was born as a witch."

Harry could see the colour drain even further on Draco's already naturally pale face.

"I already told you there's nothing special. Stop treating my son like a Pokémon, Pansy" He hissed angrily, not using Pansy's nickname anymore. Which wasn't surprising, he always did that even back in Hogwarts.

"I'm not treating your son like a Poké-whatever-it-is. And it's not only about your son, Hermione's the one fixated on that, specially ever since you lied that it's an elite pure blood phenomenon," Pansy quirked her eyebrow, glad that she hadn't lost her touch on how to deal with Draco. "I am more interested in your daughter."

Harry was surprised. When earlier Draco had told Hermione that it was more of an exclusively Black and Malfoy heritage thing, Harry had actually believed him, since there were so many things that were restricted to these two family lines. He couldn't understand why Draco would lie about it and try to keep it hidden. He thought Malfoys liked to flaunt every unique thing they had.

"I did not lie. And there's nothing interesting in my daughter," Draco stated flatly trying to avoid the subject in any way possible, "Besides why are you so interested in it at this hour. Don't you have work tomorrow?"

Pansy wasn't easily distracted, and she hoped Draco remembered that. But she still took the bait when she saw the first hints of Draco shunning her out.

"Seriously Draco? It's not even ten. I don't understand you or Harry. How can you and Harry think it's in any way okay to slow down before twelve?" Pansy dragged Harry into the question only for the giggles. She loved to harass Harry for his schoolboy like sleeping schedule ever since Albus was born.

"Because we're two fathers of three children. We have to wake up in the middle of the night and we have to wake up in the morning again and still feel refreshed," Draco took the actual bait and began to bicker with Pansy.

Neither Pansy nor Harry mentioned how his first sentence came out in a wrong way.

"It's summer, isn't it? Neither of you have any reason to feel refreshed early in the morning tomorrow so it shouldn't be an issue."

"Actually Malfoy, Pansy is right. It's Pansy and Hermione who should be worried. But since they're not I don't think we should have to worry about it," Harry quipped, attacking at Pansy for her weird sleeping schedule.

"Well, Potter, you might be having a nice long vacation with the students. But I do actually have a job to keep. So I'm not as lucky as you are," Draco snapped.

"Hermione told me that you refused to have a healer for the children because you had taken some time off of your job?" Pansy asked, her eyebrow arched, a smug look on her face.

"Yes, but they haven't found a substitute yet so I need to go to work for a little longer," Draco said smugly.

Suddenly loud crying came from upstairs so Draco rushed there, Pansy followed him. A while later when the babies had fallen asleep again Draco saw Pansy to the floo and reminded her that there won't be any new surprises so she didn't need to come back.


	14. About Exes

There was a twitch of a teeny tiny hand, and a crunching nose. They were too exhausted to actually spend any energy on movement, but Draco guessed they were dreaming. Perhaps they were getting all their memories back. He amused himself with the idea that they'd think it was their past life.

Hermione had warned him that the children would start growing faster once they were taken to Grimmauld Place. In the hospital they only grew to be a few week old, but now they were looking at least four months old. Not that Draco could tell only by looking at their faces. He'd guessed the age from the clothes that had fit them. Babies grew even normally so fast. It was hard for him to keep up with the clothing since the children grew about two months in a day. If it weren't for keeping them warm then he would've let them lay around naked. Not that it wouldn't happen anyway.

Draco couldn't help snorting at the memory. Other children went jello when they tried to wiggle out to their buggies or someone's grip. His children went jello when he tried to make them wear clothes. In the end they'd always ended up roaming in a diaper, a pair of socks, and Vesta would tie both their hairs in two teeny tiny ponytails. Vesta had had an affinity for tying everyone's hair in ponytails. She'd even whine until Draco gave in and let his hair to be tied up. In the beginning it had been like a miniature fountain on top of his head, and later on it had been long enough to be tied into a tiny braid.

His last braid had been years ago, he'd already healed from it. He didn't cry anymore. Draco ran his fingers over the bald heads of his children. He'd always loved the rough-ish feeling of their soft buzz cuts. His darned hedgehogs, he thought with a smile. This was something he'd missed so much. No, not the hair, the still moment, when the children didn't annoy him with constant crying, when he could just lay and stare at their faces for hours and listen to their steady breathing.

Hestia began stirring, it was about time he fed them. And himself too, he was feeling hungry. Maybe it was his hunger, that he didn't feel like coming back upstairs to feed the children and then going back downstairs to eat himself. Instead he manouvered both of the babies into his arms and carefully made his way downstairs.

It was way past noon and Harry was sitting on the living room floor with Albus. The boy was playing on his blanket as Harry read through the newest issue of his favourite Quidditch magazine. The footsteps were careful but they were still there. It had to be Draco skulking around again. The previous night they had made some progress but then Pansy had to ruin everything. Just after she'd left Draco turned on his heels without saying a word to him. He hadn't been down even for breakfast, the only proof of him getting out of the guestroom were the just washed bottles left to dry and two of the morning potion vials gone.

As the steps got closer Harry turned his head and to his surprise found Draco standing there, with the children.

"Mind if I leave them here?" Draco asks sheepishly.

"No, of course not." Harry quickly cleared up a part of the blanket to make space for the little babies.

Draco put them down carefully, "Could you look after them for a moment I'll just go and bring some milk?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry smiled.

He was glad Draco had finally gotten out of the room and taken children out too. As Draco vanished into the kitchen Harry summoned Kreacher and sent the house elf to clean up the guest room.

The two newcomers on _his_ blanket alerted Albus, specially since they were so close to his father. The boy crawled hurriedly on his father's lap.

"Look Albus it's two babies. Say hi to them," Harry pulled Albus into his arms and took on of his hands to wave it at the babies who were very much asleep and, if only Harry had known, frankly wouldn't have cared about another baby waving at them even if they were awake. They wouldn't have even looked at him with fascinated large eyes.

But both Harry and Albus had fascinated large eyes. It wasn't like Harry had never seen a baby before, heck, he had one of his own. But they were Draco's, Draco Malfoy's. And the relation was obvious. Specially in Scorp. The boy looked entirely like his father. Hessie must be like her mother. Her skin was several shades darker although not as dark as Harry's. Though she could've easily been his and Draco's, another fleeting thought Harry shot down before it flew too high. Her hair was black, instead of the red he'd seen the first time. Only thing similar between the siblings was the pink tip of their nose.

Albus on the other hand was simply admiring babies younger than him. There were plenty of children in Burrow. But this far Albus was the youngest. He reached out to grab Scorpius' shiny white head, but Harry carefully punched his hand away.

"No, Albus. You can't pull Scorp's hair," Harry reprimanded the boy. Albus had a strange thing for hair, specially blond. Just like his father, but Harry didn't need to realize that, yet.

"Indeed, if Scorpius finds out you pulled his hair he'll wait till you get old enough to remember everything and then make sure you remember the day you went permanently bald," Draco said with an amused voice. He'd come back with two bottles. One of them was clearly hotter than the other, its sides were foggy and Draco was clearly having trouble holding it..

"He's that protective of his hair?" Harry's asked.

"Yes. The only thing he inherited from me. Rest of him is his mother. Vesta couldn't care less about her hair, a trait Hestia has inherited. If you'd seen half of the ideas she's come up for her hair you'd be surprised how she's managed to keep all that's hair stuck on her head."

"I don't think a red Mohawk is that bad," Harry said before he realized what he'd done.

However, Draco just shrugged his shoulders, "Currently she's been tame with her hair, but at worst she's had even more terrifying hairstyles than aunt Bellatrix had had."

Draco was frowning at his daughter who was sucking milk from the first bottle. He loved her but sometimes the girl got such stupid(ly brilliant) ideas that he couldn't help the terrifying thought of the girl having some Bellatrix in her. Though even if she did it was no where near as much as Draco feared.

Harry decided it was time they changed the topic, he didn't want to talk about Bellatrix and he hardly believed that Draco would want to talk about it given the frown on his face.

"But hair isn't the only thing he's inherited from you. He basically looks like you. Almost like a clone."

Although usually Harry didn't miss anything about Draco, but being busy trying to change the topic, he did miss the way Draco's breath hitched for a moment.

"No, not really. Every time I look at him all I see is Vesta." Draco wasn't lying. To the world Scorpius might look like he was his father's twin, but Draco saw only Vesta in him, from her posture to her laughter, Scorpius had it all. For which he was grateful. Although he couldn't say the same about his daughter. The girl had too much Malfoy in her. Though he didn't hate it either. He just hated the memories some of her actions brought back.

Just as silence was about to settle between the two of them Albus let out a hiccup and then began to squeal in delight. Oh no, Harry thought. It always meant something bad. Like his father Albus' magic was strong and he was already wrecking up the house with each sneeze and hiccup. Harry looked warily around the room to see what had broken, become alive, or turned upside down this time. Before Harry could finish his inspection the Quidditch magazine he'd left on the ground had levitated up and swatted Harry in the face.

While Harry was still trying to comprehend what had happened, Albus was squealing in delight and Draco was roaring in laughter. Harry rubbed his nose.

"It's not funny," he mumbled, although the corners of his lips were quirking up. Draco's laughter was contagious.

"Trust me Potter, it is." Draco had stopped laughing but he was still unable to stop the tiny bursts of giggles.

"Well, if you're so intent on laughing at my face getting slapped by a magazine you should stop calling me Potter. You call people by surname if you pretend to be polite around them. You're not even pretending anymore," Harry said with an amused huff.

There was a moment of pregnant pause when Draco looked at Harry as if confirming the permission and then he smiled, "Fine, Harry."

Harry smiled back.

Once Draco was done feeding both Scorpius and Hestia he snuggled them closer to each other. The siblings could hardly get any sleep if the other one wasn't stuck to the hip with superglue. Albus had gotten busy at gnawing his toys again and Harry was watching him, casting quick spells each time a Albus put the toys on the blanket so when he'd out them in mouth again there'd be nothing nasty on them. Draco picked up the Quidditch magazine that was laying between him and Harry. It had been so long since he'd even mentioned Quidditch. However, he soon put it back down.

"Done already?" Harry asked him, his attention shifted to Draco now. 

"Yes, I thought I would enjoy reading it, but years of motocross and parkour have dulled my brains. Such superior sports aren't fun anymore." Draco ruefully smiled, glancing at the magazine one last time before diverting his gaze back at Harry.

"Motocross and parkour?" Harry asked, surprised that Draco might have interest in such activities.

"Yes, Vesta loved motocross and parkour, she wanted to do it herself but never had the opportunity. I mostly started it to impress her. What about you? Still playing Quidditch?"

"No, not really, I play on my free time sometimes. I just follow it now, it's Ginny who plays Quidditch."

Usually mentioning Ginny hurt him, but not now. Instead the moment felt intimate. It was two single fathers sharing stories about their exes. In any other situation the thought would've been weird but now at the moment Harry could've bared his entire soul to Draco. When he and Ginny fell apart there was really no one to whom he could've talked without feeling like the conversation was influenced somehow by the fact that people were either close to Ginny or Harry or both.

"Oh, so she's at tournaments now?" Draco asked.

Harry knew very well what the question actually implied, _Is that the reason I haven't seen your wife around_. But Harry rarely answered it unless someone straight up asked. But this was Draco and nothing with Draco had ever been usual.

"No, there are no tournaments going on now. Besides we divorced so I don't really know what's going on for her currently."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," Draco flushed in embarrassment.

"No, it's alright. What about your wife? You know all about Ginny. But I don't know anything about her. You said she was a muggle."

"Yes, Vesta passed away when they were four. And my my Potter, are you trying to start a fight over wives? Because let me tell you I have quite an experience in that field," Draco snickered. He was unaware that he'd switched back to Potter to banter properly.

"Seriously?"

"Yes," Draco laughed, "We had this one neighbour back then, who couldn't stop flaunting his young wife to me. And being the banter addict I was I had to take the bait each and every time and destroy them with my love for Vesta."

Draco had pressed his hand over his chest dramatically, making Harry laugh.

"But what's the point in flaunting his young wife since you two must've been so young too?"

"Well, I was young," Draco said, "but Vesta was older."

His eyes had a certain spark to them that Harry couldn't help but envy Draco. He'd lost his wife before things could even have the chance to go sour, and his marriage was the type that stereotypically had more chances of falling apart. All his memories of her must've been wonderful. And then there was Harry whose life was supposed to be perfect, according to the world and both him and Ginny. Yet now his life was still a mess and the memories of him and Ginny weren't the best anymore.


	15. Second Week of Treatment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dedicating this chapter to MrsGinPotter for all the support! Thanks for dragging my procrastinating arse back with your encouraging comments :)

The week went by very fast. Every day at some point Draco would bring the children downstairs even though they slept through everything. No amount of noise, mainly Albus crying or laughing on top of his lungs, managed to budge them from their dreamland. Thus Draco ended up spending quite some time with Albus and the little boy had taken quite a liking for the man. Or more specifically for his piercings. Every time Draco had barely had the time to lay down his children on Albus' blanket (that the baby didn't mind sharing anymore) Albus would clamber down from Harry's lap and enthusiastically make his way to Draco. The two days after the first time he'd gotten out of he room, Draco had endured the torture on his lip and ears but after that he'd started wearing an obnoxious necklace, that was attractive enough to keep Albus interested. And now a week later it was keeping Hermione interested.

It was an awful looking necklace. The chain was made of thick metal rings, at the end of it there was a large pendant shaped like a bloodshot eyeball with a slimy green iris, and the eyeball looked like it was about to pop out of the nonexistent eye socket.

Hermione glanced at it for the eighth time now as she helped Draco hold Scorpius in the porper way so she could run the weekly tests on him too. Hestia had been tested and now she was sitting next to her father, watching what the lady with poofy hair was doing. Harry was sitting on the armchair watching with Albus.

"You've got quite the necklace," she commented trying to break the silence in the room.

The smile that took over Draco's face could've blinded Harry ten times over.

"Yeah, it's quite obnoxious. Vesta bought it for me after I got my lip piercing since the children just won't stop fiddling the ring. But the necklace always draws their attention away."

And just like that the bubbly feeling that Harry felt seeing Draco smile was gone. After the first day he'd gotten out of the room with the children Draco hadn't mentioned Vesta even once. Instead he'd spent his time catching up with everything that had happened in the Wizarding world after he'd left and laughing at Harry's phone. Harry couldn't help the jealousy that took over him whenever Draco smiled that content and rueful smile. What did he know about feeling rueful with his perfect wife and perfect muggle life and that perfect body that hadn't gotten even an ounce fat, just more muscular? 

"I can't see why it would attract babies," Hermione asked, muttering spells and writing the results down.

"I wonder that too, each time I hang that thing down my neck. But it works so why whine about it," Draco said as he turned Scorpius, who was busy trying to pull the necklace, around so Hermione could get a better look at the boy. 

"He's perfectly healthy," Hermione exclaimed after muttering the diagnostic spells. "And what about their magic? Any nasty outbursts?" She asked, scribbling the results of the spells down.

"None. They're squibs, both of them," Draco said, as he smoothly wiggled his son into the onesie that he'd showed to Harry all those evenings ago. He had already decided to ignore all of Pansy and Hermione's attempts to talk about his children's magic.

"I see," Hermione said, scribbling it down too. She remembered Draco mentioning it to her before. With a few more generic questions she was done with the first weekly visit.

Harry went to see Hermione to the floo, leaving Albus with Draco. But before Hermione had even flooed away properly a loud shrill rang through the room making Harry turn around. Both boys were fighting with each other for the necklace hanging down Draco's neck. Hestia had been the one to scream. She wanted to help her brother but she was having a hard time trying to get on Draco's lap to sit next to Scorpius and most probably shove Albus away.

Harry quickly rushed to Draco and tried to pry Albus' fingers from around the necklace. As he carefully pulled at his son's fingers he raised his head to look at Draco and realized their faces were merely inches away. He hadn't realized that in an attempt to be a shield between Albus and Scorpius he had nearly pushed himself on Draco's lap too. Feeling the blood rush on his face Harry quickly pulled away and yanked Albus along. Luckily, he didn't need to awkwardly escape the room as Draco immediately turned to Scorpius to tell him in a stern voice about the virtue of sharing and not hitting other babies. As if the about one year old boy understood any of what Draco was telling him.

Harry took the time to calm down and wait so the blood rushed back where it belonged. Meanwhile, he tried to lecture Albus on the same virtues, as if his son understood it any better than Scorpius did.

****

 

Soon all five of them were sitting on the blanket again. The three children playing together in peace after Draco had "magically" vanished the necklace under one of the decorative pillows on the sofa that Ginny had left behind and Harry had forgotten to put away. Now both men were sheepishly smiling at each other and the children, unable to come up with anything to talk about. Harry was still feeling slightly embarrassed, mostly at himself for getting so embarrassed in the first place. Draco was feeling bad that his son had hit the son of the man who was helping them out.

"So-" "I'm-" They both said at once.

Both of them shut up to give the other the chance to finish first. Harry took the chance first.

"So their first fight, huh?" Harry said, and immediately proceeded to mentally facepalm at his opening sentence. It was the worst conversation starter he'd ever come up with.

"Yeah," Draco smiled, "I was going to say the same."

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad for an opening sentence. Harry felt relieved.

"I'm sorry about Scorpius hitting Albus like that," Draco said.

"Don't be. Kids do that all the time. Even Teddy fought a every now and then over toys when he was a baby."

"Teddy?" Draco asked.

"Teddy, as in Ted Lupin, as Andromeda's grandson, as in your cousin," Pansy said before Harry could.

Both men turned towards the floo and let out discreet sighs. Ever since Draco had moved in with Harry Pansy had visited then every day. Not that it bothered them, but her comments did.

"Aww, look at your daddies. They haven't hexed each other yet. I think I can already hear the wedding bells!" Pansy said, as a greeting instead of using the classic greetings.

For the second time that day, Harry felt embarrassed. Draco just frowned. Focusing on the rivalry part more than on the wedding bells, like Harry had.

"I didn't realize that Blaise would get sick of having you around so soon after your one month long trip," Draco spat back.

"Oh, Drakey! He didn't get tired of me, I got tired of him so I left him alone with whatever surprise he is planning."

Draco would've asked more about the surprise Blaise was planning for Pansy but suddenly he looked sullen. Both Pansy and Harry realized that she'd hit a soft spot, but before they could ask about it Draco was smiling again.

"What surprise?" Harry asked instead, realizing that Draco wasn't willing to talk anymore, hence the smile.

"How would I know? That's why it's a surprise," Pansy let Harry choose the topic as she'd realized the same thing as Harry had, "I'm hoping it's a sex dungeon. I don't think I've had enough of it during the trip."

If she'd realized the lecturing she'd get from Harry and specially from Draco she would've never said the last bit. She'd only wanted to lighten up the mood a little. Though she must admit it was amusing to see Draco as a father. Although some of his words hurt a lot she knew it wasn't his fault. He had no idea why she wasn't used to being around children or why she won't ever learn to be around them. If only he'd known. Instead she tried to enjoy the moments she hadn't been able to in the past because Draco had been doing these things with his muggle friends.

If only she'd known too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so much time to update this fic with this generic chapter. I never intended this fic to get even this long, only deciding to write whenever I felt the urge to procrastinate for other things. Last week I had nothing else to procrastinate at so I ended up nearly ditching this fic. Luckily it was temporary and I should get back to the original update speed now :)


	16. Week 3, Age from 1 to 2 and Draco in Harry's Kitchen

Rose had caught cold, which lead to Hermione catching cold which led to Pansy catching it too. Thus early in the morning of the first day of the second week of treatment Harry received a call from Hermione and a text from Pansy that he should keep an eye on the twins in case they somehow got ill too since the summer cold seemed to be catching everyone. When Harry agreed to do as they asked and keep it a secret from Draco as to not cause him more stress Harry had had no idea what he was signing up for.

_Day 1, ~1y 2m_

The first thing Albus did after waking up was poke Harry's face and blabber stories to him until he was very awake and very pissed off. Grumbling he got up and went to freshen up. A splash of cold water on his face made him feel better. But not enough. Once he was done with his own morning routine he helped Albus through his own. As he was brushing Albus' teeth he was reminded of all the mornings when he and Ginny had stood in the same bathroom brushing together to save some time for farewell kisses before going to work. An annoyed cry from Albus brought him back to the present.

When they were done, the father son duo got downstairs. Halfway down the stairs Harry smelled the coffee and suddenly the terrible pain at the back of his head eased and he felt a tad bit better. Usually when Kreacher woke up early just to prepare them some breakfast Harry felt annoyed but this morning he was grateful for it. Upon reaching kitchen he noticed that Draco was the one making breakfast, not Kreacher.

The sight was surprising. During the two weeks that Draco had spent with them he'd never really done anything. Before the twins came he didn't even join the meals. Both of the situations had made Harry annoyed at times but he'd never said anything to Draco because of everything that was going on. He noticed that Draco had transfigured one of the chairs around the dining table into highchairs. The twins were splattering baby food all over themselves while Draco was humming a happy tune as he was preparing breakfast.

"Morning," Harry said. His mood uplifted a little more now. Although the headache was still there and despite the happiness of the tune Draco's humming wasn't helping at all.

"Morning!" Draco turned at the man who'd just arrived.

Harry must've looked more awful than he'd imagined as Draco stopped humming right then and handed Harry the first cup of coffee. He took Albus from Harry's arms and summoned Kreacher to transfigure another chair into a highchair for Scorpius so Albus could sit in his own highchair. On one hand it felt wrong to have an outsider like this in his kitchen but on the other hand Harry couldn't care less, and to be honest he was quite enjoying it.

_Day 2, ~1y 4m_

Harry had once again woken up to the Malfoy trio having some fun cooking time in the kitchen together. That morning the breakfast was a little bit more extravagant. There was omelette for the men, scrambled egg for the children, sausages, toast, coffee and carved kiwis with frozen yoghurt filling. When they were done neither the children nor the adults felt even like moving so they just sat around the table. The babies got themselves dirty with whatever had fallen on the trays of their highchairs while Harry and Draco talked.

"Thank you for the awesome meal," Harry said, earning a radiant smile from Draco.

"It's nothing." If Harry wasn't wrong Draco was blushing. He'd had no idea that Draco could ever have a hard time accepting compliments.

As silence fell between them Harry's attention got diverted to the children loudly baby talking to each other on their highchairs which reminded him.

"By the way, yesterday you summoned Kreacher to transfigure the high chair. Why?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

"I couldn't do it that's why," Draco said but the smile on his face wasn't as genuine anymore.

"You couldn't?" Harry asked, confused. How couldn't Draco, one of the best wizards from his year, not know how to transfigure.

"I've lived in the muggle world soon for almost twenty years. And during all that time I have never said a single spell. I have forgotten everything."

Harry was surprised. He was pretty sure that no wizard or witch could ever forget his or her magic. The magic won't let itself to be forgotten. But before he could ask Draco had gotten up from the table and left to do the dishes cutting their conversation short right there.

_Day 3, ~1y 5m_

The following morning Draco avoided Harry as best as he could. When he'd woken up the breakfast was on the table but Draco himself and the twins were in the living room. When Harry and Albus joined them after Draco openly avoided any kind of conversation with Harry. He felt bad for poking his nose in things he shouldn't have, specially when Draco wasn't either. Unlike others, Draco still hadn't tried to ask the reason for Ginny and Harry's divorce. He hadn't tried to ask how they did the parenting between themselves or how Harry was treated by rest of the Weasleys ever since their divorce.

Just as Draco hadn't crossed his limits neither should've Harry. But he couldn't help it. Draco had been gone for a little over eighteen years. During this time Harry had often caught glimpses of all those articles and special issues concerning the disappearance. Now having the man himself in his apartment made him curious, besides everything that Draco said and did was suspicious too. Harry wasn't stupid. He had read as many books as Hermione had in fact even more and he knew very well that purebloods didn't give birth to twins in two forms. Besides, if Draco had in fact married a muggle woman then his children weren't purebloods anymore. They were half bloods. There was no was a half blood was born the way Scorpius had been. Even Harry with everything going on in his life hadn't been as odd as Draco's son. And then there was the whole issue with his daughter. Something about the girl just felt wrong. Harry just couldn't pin point what exactly. This feeling seemed to increase whenever Hestia was tired.

Still, no matter what the whole deal with Draco's disappearance and return with half blood children was, Harry had to respect the limits Draco was setting. The entire day Harry didn't try to initiate any conversations or dig too deep whenever Draco finally gave in and talked to him for the sake of the children who could sense the coldness between their fathers.

_Day 4, ~1y 7m_

It had been the fourth day since Hermione and Pansy had asked him to stay alert in case the summer cold got them too. Specially the twins. Since the first day he'd instructed Kreacher to keep the house extra clean which the house elf gladly did. It wasn't like he got the chance to follow his master's orders everyday. In fact, Kreacher kind of overdid it at times. Like this morning. Instead of smelling coffee first thing in the morning while getting down the stairs he woke up to the powerful smell of some sort of flowery detergent. Rubbing his eyes Harry got up only to notice that apart from the bed everything in the room was neat and clean. Albus' dirty clothes were gone and even Harry's glasses had been crystal cleaned. Harry wasn't sure whether he should hate Kreacher for reminding him how messy he could get or if he should thank Kreacher for letting him for once wake up to a room that didn't stink like his sweat.

The loud mix of screams and giggles muffled effectively by the closed door of his bedroom made Harry choose the latter. He could sense that it was going to be a good day. And it did turn out to be so. Draco had forgiven him and by some unspoken agreement they had decided not to ever try to dig deep into each other's lives again.

That day Draco made the dinner too.

_Day 5, ~1y 9m_

Stinky fruit.

That's what Draco called bananas. When Harry had laughed at Draco and told him that they were bananas not stinky fruits Draco had scoffed.

_"I know they're called bananas, Harry. But they stink. So stinky fruits," Draco said as he tried to feed the banana in his hands to Hestia. To avoid getting the fruit all over his daughters face and clothes and all over himself he'd even resorted to feeding it with a spoon._

"You know you can just give it to her. She's old enough to be able to eat bananas herself," Harry said as Draco carefully cut another spoonful of banana. His tongue slightly sticking out as if he was trying to do the most attention requiring task ever. Perhaps it was such a task for Draco at least.

"I already let Scorpius eat his banana on his own, but I know Hessie. This tiny changeling will get the fruit all over herself and I'm not touching her if she gets banana all over her body."

"Seriously, Draco. How on earth did you deal with feeding bananas after your wife passed away?"

Harry realized his mistake as soon as he'd asked the question. He couldn't believe that he'd gone and asked something so stupid! Harry wanted to dig his own grave right then and there and the giggling boy in his arms wasn't helping him at all. It felt as if Albus knew his father had messed up a big time and was now laughing at him. To Harry's relief, however, Draco let it slide with a "I didn't even allow any banana flavoured products until they grew old enough to keep that thing away from me.

After that Harry began to notice how Draco called almost everything and everyone by names other than the given one. Bananas were stinky fruits. His children were monsters or brats. Hermione was Granger-Weasley and Pansy was Pans. Only Harry was Harry because he'd insisted on it so much. It seemed like he even tended to be more affectionate when he called people and things by names he'd come up with. Only his surname was something that Draco could never use affectionately. Draco had even managed to get rid of the hostility in the way he said Weasley.

After the realization Harry was more determined than ever to be anything but Potter to Draco.

_Day 6, ~1y 10m_

Harry woke up late once again. In only less than a week it had become a routine for them that Draco, being woken early by his children prepared the breakfast. And even less time since he'd taken the charge of dinner. Harry prepared the lunch and changed the nappies. He wasn't exactly sure when he'd taken on that task but it had to be one of the breakfasts when Draco was too busy frying eggs to notice the horrible stench coming from Hestia. At first Harry had thought that she wouldn't like a stranger changing her diaper at all and would start to wail on top of her lungs. But she didn't. It seemed like the Malfoy twins had gotten as used to Harry as Albus had gotten to Draco.

When he rolled over, still thinking of how _Hessie_ and _Scorp_ got along with him so well, he realized Albus wasn't there in the bed with him. It had happened with him a few times before. Albus had rolled down in his sleep. Either Harry woke up to his son's cries or Kreacher woke him up and handed the baby back to him. It might've seemed like a good thing that there was no crying but it wasn't. Harry's mind got filled with horrible scenes of his son getting choked to death after being tangled in sheets or hitting his soft head so hard that the impact...

Shaking the nasty thoughts away Harry began to frantically search for Albus in the bed. The boy wasn't anywhere. Then he summoned Kreacher who didn't have his son either, but before Kreacher could finish telling him where Albus was Harry had darted out of the room in panic- He rushed downstairs so fast and so loud that he'd scared Draco who'd been sleeping on the couch. Suddenly waking up like that had scared the snoozing babies on both of his arms and on his chest, making all three of them cry at once.

"What's going on in here?!" Harry asked, finally relieved that his son hadn't gotten his neck mangled by the bed sheets.

"What the fuck Potter, we were sleeping," Draco said as he tried to decide whether he should rub his eyes or calm the babies first.

When Harry didn't budge from his demand to know why Draco had scared Harry so, the man decided to do the latter so he could talk to Harry without being interrupted. He explained how Albus had woken up and had been playing next to his father when Kreacher had gone into the room do the morning clean up. The house elf then took the baby to Draco who had already woken up so that Harry could sleep in peace a little longer. Once Albus had been fed the boy got drowsy and they all four sat down to read a story on the couch and fallen asleep at some point.

Although Harry scolded both Draco and Kreacher scaring him like that is heart skipped a beat on the thought of them caring about his sleep. It had been quite some time since anyone had cared about him to do more than just tell him to get some rest.

 

_Day 7, ~2y_

It was time for the weekly check up and both Hermione and Pansy seemed to be well enough to get back to their job which meant there was no need for Harry to keep an eye on the twins for summer cold. It also, fortunately, meant the end of the strong flowery scent in Harry's room every morning. Now the first smell in the morning could be the smell of coffee made by Draco again.


	17. The Slamming Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this story had some atrocious typos and grammar mistakes. I got the first chapter betad and am waiting for the rest to come. I'll crank the quality up soon :) till then enjoy this new turn of events.

"Hessie, darling please, don't fall asleep now. Look it's a bee! Brrrr, brrrr!"

"I'm pretty sure that bees go bzzzz and not brrrr."

" _Harry_ , why don't you try to feed two half asleep toddlers, face planting into their food, at once?" Draco spat impatiently. 

At the age of a little over two Hestia and Scorpius could stay awake for longer than newborns could. Draco had asked Hermione about the memories. She had assured him that everything was fine. And that Pansy would explain things better during her daily visits. So now a day later Draco was patiently feeding his children a very late dinner, while impatiently waiting for Pansy, who still at eleven o'clock in the night hadn't showed up uninvited.

Harry would have loved to help Draco, but he had a lot to do with Albus. He had no idea how Draco managed to deal with Albus without a peep, when his own father couldn't. Even now Draco was helping Harry out unintentionally. Harry's buzzes and other patented baby feeding noises weren't working at all. Albus was staring wide eyed at Draco, mimicking each of Draco's gestures. Each time Draco told his own children to open their mouths Albus would excitedly open his mouth allowing Harry to thrust a spoonful of the mango purée Albus liked, into his mouth.

Once the feeding war was over both fathers retired back to _the blanket_ leaving the dishes for Kreacher. Ever since Draco had moved in with them Harry had for once given Kreacher more things to do. Although he convinced himself that it was to keep Kreacher from whining around Draco, but it was obvious to Kreacher that master Harry simple wanted to spend time with young master Malfoy without having to worry about household chores or letting the formerly blond man get caught up with household chores that he seemed to be doing quite eagerly lately.

"Ugh, I've no idea how you do it," Harry said as he flopped down to sit next to Draco at the edge of the blanket.

Hestia had fallen asleep while Scorpius and Albus were trying to bond by staring at each other while dozing off. At least so in Scorpius' case. Albus was just surprised to see the familiar tiny sleeping bundle suddenly bigger than him and wide awake.

"Do what Harry? I do a lot of things. You have to be more specific than that," Draco muttered as he read that day's not-so-special-anymore flyer. This time they wondered if he'd been selling his body all these years. Apparently now the signs of selling your own body was to have a bunch of tattoos and piercings. He stared at the gritty photo of himself standing angrily after punching Harry with distaste.

"Survive the children. You're so good at it and look at me. I'm... I'm a... I'm a babbling bumbling band of baboons when it comes to Albus. I can't handle one and here you are taking care of the twins and also Albus," Harry said quoting McGonagall, ignoring Draco's roaring laughter. Although he usually loved Draco's pearly laughter, right now it wasn't helping him at all.

Stifling the laughter after receiving a deathly yet dejected glare from Harry Draco patted the other man on shoulder, "You seem to have forgotten that I've been a father for over eighteen years now. I've been through all of this once before."

To hide the surprise at being touched by Draco Harry focused on his son, "But still. You've had plenty of time to forget it all. Even parents who plan their pregnancy again after years get annoyed despite having experience. But for you it was entirely out of the blue. Yet look at you."

"Who said I've had a break from changing nappies and burping babies after _my devils_ grew up?"

"You still take care of babies?" Harry asked, unable to picture Draco having anything to do with babies other than his own. Maybe he did babysitting? Although looking at the man clad in a white t-shirt and black shorts, all the tattoos on his arms and neck exposed, made it hard to believe that he'd be child friendly, Draco was seriously good with children.

"Yeah, I work both in the town kindergarten and the school. Mostly I teach the kids in the grades one, two and three. After that they become abysmal."

Harry was stunned. He could've believed Draco babysitting occassionally but a teacher at the kindergarten and an elementary school? Draco noticed the surprise on the other man's face.

"I know unbelievable. Specially with the tattoos and piercings. Wearing the right clothing and the least attention catching rings helped. Besides our town is so small, it's a surprise we still have the school. It's been around since Scorp and Hessie were born. And no one wants to work there so they take as many as possible. And having a clean record in the muggle world helped."

"Oh, I see. I thought those things were completely forbidden for a teacher?"

"Yes they are. But our local school and kindergarten are slightly different. Trying a more practical approach in teaching and all that stuff. As one of my colleagues says, it's hella fun but too much to explain."

 

Whatever Harry was going to answer got interrupted by a noise coming from Harry's floo. It was Pansy.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," she said with a tired smirk.

"No, not at all," Harry said, suddenly remembering when she'd done that first time. Walking in on him and Ginny snogging on the sofa. He hated when she did it but there was no helping it with Pansy. The girl never seemed to listen to anyone.

"Great, because Hermione told me to come and talk about the returning of memories. There's not much to tell, since Hermione already gave you all the potions, but you have to pay attention.

"Thank Merlin, you're finally here. I thought you were going to skip without even informing right when we actually needed you here," Draco said. Draco meant it as a friendly jab. However, tired Pansy didn't find the jab friendly at all.

"As if you have the right to talk about informing beforehand," she spat back and then turned to her bag to dig out some informative flyers both she and Hermione had written themselves after they had started studying the new mysterious disease.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, surprised by the hostility in Pansy's tone.

"You know very well what it was supposed to mean," Pansy said before digging back into her bag. Nothing was working for her that day. Blaise's surprise was awful, she was late, Draco was being a jerk and now she couldn't find the flyer she was sure she had put in her bag.

"No Pans, I have no idea what you're trying to imply."

That was it for Pansy. How dare Draco be a jerk to her for all these years, even now and then call her Pans? How could Blaise plan such an awful surprise for her? Why was her life going suddenly so bad?

"Don't you dare call me that!" Pansy said, barely holding back the tears in her eyes. It alerted both Draco and Harry, and also the two boys who still hadn't fallen entirely asleep.

"Pansy, what's wrong?" Draco asked, reaching out to touch her arm. Pansy pulled away, the tears threatening to fall down any moment now.

"Don't you dare. As if you informed us before you left. You left us for a muggle life and didn't feel like telling us even once. And when you come back you just bring problems with you all over again. Oh Merlin, I should've never considered you my best friend," Pansy said, barely controlling herself from screaming. Then without waiting for Draco to answer she rushed out. In her hurry she didn't even use the floo, instead she rushed out of the main door slamming it hard behind her.

Before either man could understand what had just happened both twins began to scream at the top of their lungs, it also made Albus cry. In a matter of moments both men were busy trying to calm down the crying children. Harry took Albus and went upstairs hoping that taking Albus away from the crying would calm him down, and so it did. With a few charms he managed to completely muffle out the sounds and soon all the crying made Albus tired. Still sniffling against his father's shoulder he fell asleep.

Once Albus was carefully tucked under his sleeping blanket Harry tiptoed out of the room, but as soon as he opened the door the screams began again. He quickly closed the door behind him and made his way to Draco. Poor Draco was having an awful time. The twins were squirming and rubbing their heads. Draco was trying to do something with his phone but it was hard as the twins clung to him.

Harry rushed over, "Tell me what to do."

"Call Hermione and tell her they're crying and rubbing their head," Draco instructed before rubbing their heads to help them soothe the pain.

Harry did as he was told and in a little while Hermione came through the floo holding her healer's kit and looking like she had just fallen asleep, which she had.

*****

 

"It's just the memories returning, but more intensely than usually," Hermione explained as she handed Draco new vials for future headaches, "The memories return slowly and keep returning even after the growing up has finished. But sometimes something might trigger a stronger reaction and the memories from a certain period of time might return in bulks causing a terrible headache because the brains can't handle the suddenness of it." 

"So each time something such happens I should just make them drink this potion and they'll calm down soon?" Draco asked, as he put the new vial into the simple yet nice box for holding vials patients could get from St. Mungos if they needed to buy a bigger amount of potions like Draco.

"Yes," Hermione said, "And while you don't need to pay for the visit, you'll have to pay for the potion. Although it doesn't help with much it's still necessary but a bit hard to produce. You should be careful with the vials. You're lucky I had a vial in my kit otherwise it would've been bad. Don't do breaking anymore vials," she reprimanded Draco when he told her that he had only one vial as the other one broke."

"You don't have to worry about the expenses. I can afford the treatment for my children. I'll even pay for the home visit you had to do at this hour. That's not my concern. I just want to know whether I can prevent such situations in future."

Hermione thought for a moment before speaking up, "Of course you can prevent it if you can guess what might trigger such situations but it's hard. Sometimes you'd think that it's the big events of life but it ends up being that one small moment that'll trigger all of the memories to return at once. Sometimes it's the other way around. There's no way you can tell. But still you can take some preliminary actions by looking at the triggers that have already happened. What caused it today?"

Harry wanted to tell about Pansy's visit, not just to tell about the slamming door but also in hopes that Hermione might be able to have some heart-to-heart conversation with Pansy and ask her what was bothering her.

"I slammed a door," Draco said before Harry could, "I had my hands full and tried to close the nursery door with my leg. I ended up using too much force and the slamming sound made them cry."

"The nursery door?" Hermione asked, "Isn't Albus sleeping there? How hasn't he woken up yet to all this screaming?"

"Ever since he realized that the twins sleep with Draco, he's been insisting on sleeping in my room. You know how he gets stubborn at times," Harry explained, wondering why Draco hid what had happened.

The answer seemed to satisfy Hermione and after exchanging farewells she left. But before they went to sleep Draco asked Harry to keep it from Hermione but inform Blaise so he could make sure his wife returned home safely. Harry wanted to ask why but looking at Draco's retreating back he realized that now was not the best time.


	18. Pink Sweater and Baby Blues

All three children were finally sleeping and so was Harry. Draco on the other hand was sitting on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate. And his phone bag.

_"Draco, are you fucking kidding me?"_

_"No," Draco said, bewildered by Vesta's expression, a mix of disbelief, surprise and annoyance._

_"I think you are. Why are you wearing a daddy sweater, and of such a hideous shade of pink? It looks like vomit after having a hefty amount of strawberry ice cream. Go get changed right now before I call the cops on you for wearing something so hideous at the age of twenty."_

_"Vesta, can you stop reminding me of my age? It doesn't change the fact that I am a father now."_

_"We had this conversation Draco. Your fatherhood doesn't change the fact that you're young. I'll keep reminding you of your age until you stop acting like a stubborn brat and start struggling through muggle college without whining and start wearing clothes people your age wear."_

_"And what about you? Why aren't you wearing those denim atrocities like others?"_

_"Are you seriously asking why I, a thirty year old woman, am not wearing denim shit that exposes my flabby shoulders, while I'm forcing a fit as hell, twenty year old young man wear a cool denim jacket over his white t-shirt?"_

_"Vesta—"_

_"Go back in there and wear the jacket I gave you. I don't want to see another piece of daddy clothing or I'll make a pact with fairies to steal the babies. Then you'll learn your lesson."_

_"But Vesta—" Draco began to whine._

_"Stop whining you big baby!" Vesta laughed and shoved Draco back behind the curtain._

He had ended up buying it, and a week later when he was looking for it Vesta had handed him a hand knitted phone bag that doesn't fit modern phones anymore. Now Draco keeps the dirty and faded pink coloured tiny pouch for memories. It had the tiny marble Hestia had managed to stick in her nose, the old hairpin Scorpius had used to make the tattoo on his wrist and Vesta's last ever and most favourite ear ring that Draco had bought for her on their first marriage anniversary.

The pouch was everything he wanted to have near him at the moment of his death if he couldn't have his family. He always kept it in his pocket and on the rare days he forgot it realizing his mistake made him feel distressed. It was the reminder why he shouldn't dwell on the pain that leaving the Wizarding world had caused him and his loved ones. If he could even consider them his loved ones. Of course, he knew he could but a part of him would never believe it. He had had his suspicions with Vesta and even the children too. But at least fate had left him alone for long enough to be able to bond to them properly. Now Draco couldn't even imagine what it would be like to not trust them.

Draco leaned over to put the mug, he hadn't taken a single sip from, down and emptied the tiny objects on his lap to look at them once again. He never got used to the sight of the objects together. All of them had been a sign that fate had finally cut some slack on him and stopped snatching everything he cared about from him. 

Seeing his new sweater turned into a woolly hat, mittens and a phone bag had made him angry. Vesta had crossed the line with her obsession of making Draco behave like a young man his age should. Draco had slammed the door behind him unable to hear how the twins began to wail and despite her initial pride Vesta began to get more worried as more time passed with Draco out on his own. When he'd returned later the three of them were already sleeping. She had bought him a new sweater, only in olive green as the pink ones had been sold out. After seeing the dried tear tracks on the faces of his children and Vesta he'd sworn to never do that again. They talked it out and Draco gifted the sweater to one of his classmates. It had been a new beginning for a happy life.

The day Hestia had stuck the marble up her nostril Draco had thought his daughter would suffocate right in front of him. It was Vesta who had shoved the panicking young man to the side and made the girl sneeze it out. The marble flew out, all snotty, but his daughter survived.

When he'd first time seen the tattoo on Scorpius' wrist he'd been reminded of the faded mark on his own forearm. He'd felt scared and cried first time in years. He'd wished so bad that Vesta had been around. She would've known what to do. But luckily a week later Scorpius had reported the newly formed gang to the school council and gotten out of the mess unharmed. His son was back.

The beautiful navy blue ear ring had been insanely cheap. There was some sort of store emptying sale and Draco happened to pass by. He'd been searching for the perfect present for his friend of four, girlfriend of three, fiancé of two and wife of one year. A lot of history to consider. The ear ring had caught his attention immediately. The navy blue glass ear ring shaped like a moon crest hanging by a rope with a fairy sitting on the moon had charmed Vesta so much. That day she'd become the fairy to her moon like beautiful husband. It had been a promise, that they'll get through everything together.

Then fate had to butt in.

And now it was butting in again fourteen years later, and it was far worse than before. He was surrounded by familiar yet unfamiliar people. Besides now he'd have to face all the consequences of his past actions. All this time he hadn't really thought of it but Pansy's earlier outburst made him realize it. Now that he was here he could either hide away like he had been this far or he could face the consequences of his past. But right now he couldn't bare to think about it.

He dropped the items back into the pouch and finished the cold hot chocolate in one gulp. On his way upstairs he hadn't noticed Harry who had barely managed to make it back to his room after checking on the twins since he was worried about them after everything that had happened only a few hours ago.

*****

Last time Harry had seen Pansy so out of control, angry and sad was when Draco had vanished. Narcissa had owled him and he had responded that he'd do something about looking for Draco but he'd been caught up by other things. But Pansy. She had first tried the aurors. When they blatantly turned her away she had owled Harry but Harry hadn't owled back because he was busy helping to build the new orphanage. Finally she had turned up at his door and screamed her way in because 'she was worried and Harry damn better start looking for Draco'.

She had fallen apart when even Harry had failed to find the blond boy. She'd been depressed for months and it wasn't until Blaise returned from France that she'd began to take care of herself. Next time she'd been in such state was after Blaise had been attacked.

Harry had no idea what made her feel so bad about Draco's return after three weeks. She could've been angry with him from the very beginning, but Harry could understand how she felt. If it had been just a muggle family Draco could've returned to the Wizarding world. Let everyone know he was alive and safe.

Although Harry couldn't understand Pansy's timing he understood her reasoning. He still remembered the pain he'd felt when he'd found out that Ginny had left them only because he didn't want to stop playing quidditch. As if Harry would've ever made her. Harry would've happily stayed home himself so she could keep up with her career.

He could still remember the panic he'd felt, the rest of the Weasleys had felt, when a week had passed and they couldn't find Ginny. And the overwhelming anger he'd felt when Ginny couldn't care less when Harry told her that Albus needed his mother, and she had the nerve to cry and blame it all on Harry the next day when Molly had gone to convince her to come back home.

The healers called it post pregnancy depression, or in other words the baby blues. At first Harry had been so heart broken. He couldn't believe that his beloved Ginny was suffering from it. But slowly he'd come to accept it. Now they were just waiting for the day Ginny would finally go for therapy instead of let Albus meet his mother without Harry present whenever she wasn't away for tournaments. Like now. Due to Ginny's sporadic routine Albus had managed to bond to Draco fucking Malfoy, his father's former rival, faster than his own mother and the love of Harry's life.

That night in both bedrooms two adult men fell asleep sniffling and clinging to their babies as if their lives depended on it, tormented by the memories of their wives.


	19. Dada

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not as good as it could be but I spent an entire day writing this chapter and had to write it over and over again like 3-4 times because the site kept crashing -.- but I hope you guys like it!

Kreacher was having the time of his life.

His master had let him do all the chores since morning. Even make the beds and prepare the lunch. He even went as far as let Kreacher change Albus' nappy.

Harry himself was sitting on the couch watching Draco barely keep his eyes open as he attempted to play with the children. Sitting would have been a lie to be honest. Harry was dozing off. The previous night had been awful for all of them. Even the children were more calm than usual. Scorpius was curled up on his father's lap, Hestia was silently colouring with the crayons Harry had found from the depths of his wardrobe and Albus was trying to nibble the crayons only to be stopped by both Harry and Draco, both of them taking turns depending on who could be bothered to take the crayon away from the stubborn little boy.

At one point both of them had dozed off thus neither of them had noticed when Albus finally managed to stuff one of the smaller crayons into his mouth but the taste was very unappealing so he spat it out. While the adults were not in a state to get angry at Albus Hestia sure as hell was.

"Daddy!!!" She shrieked bringing all three, Draco, Harry and Scorpius, back from their dreamlands.

"Huh? Wha? Yes? What is it honey?" Draco said, his thoughts muddled after being woken so suddenly.

"Look what Albus did to my crayon!" She screamed at the verge of tears.

"Oh sweetie," Draco, too tired to care, took the crayon and wiped it on his brown pants, "Here you go. And these crayons are Harry's not yours sweetie."

"But I'm colouring with them! He can't lick them. He'll also die if he does that."

"True, he can't lick them. But who told you he'll die?" Draco asked, his eyes already drooping close again.

Hestia tried to think for an answer but then she just shrugged and turned back to her drawing, still avoiding the crayon and Albus a bit too because she was mad at him for ruining _her, not Harry's_ crayon.

Draco just closed his eyes again and hugged Scorpius, who had just turned around and leaned against his father after the interruption, closer to his chest. The last thing he thought was he would just shut his eyes for a moment. But right after the thought ended he was off to dreamland again. However, another interruption ruined his journey.

"Hey!" someone shook his shoulder.

This time it was Harry fucking Potter. The man had always ruined his life and now he had to ruin his sleep.

"What is it, Potter?"

"No need to be cranky," Harry managed to muster a laugh despite the killing headache, "Just wanted to let you know you had an actual conversation with your daughter right now."

Draco just hummed, but soon the message sunk in and Draco sat straight startling his son.

"Hessie, darling. Did you just talk?" Draco patted Scorpius who was getting fussy.

"Yeah," Hestia said nonchalantly in her high voice as if her father had asked her the easiest question ever, which it technically was. Shrugging her shoulders again she focused back on the drawing.

Realizing that Harry was right, Draco looked at his son. If Hestia had regained her ability to talk then so must've Scorpius. He gently woke his son up.

"Scorp, honey. Look at daddy. How are you today?" Draco tried to coax the words out of his son but Scorpius didn't answer. He shook him again, "Scorpius, can you hear me honey?"

Being disturbed in his sleep was something Scorpius had never handled well, just like his mother. Even now he didn't.

"Daaaaad," he began to cry, "I hate you."

The little boy began to sniffle and struggled back to rest against Draco's chest. He cried a little more and mumbled something about really, really hating Draco before he began to snore in his tiny voice, making Draco chuckle.

He raised his head to look at Harry, who was grinning as well, "I told you, didn't I?"

Draco smiled. "Thank you Harry."

Harry's grin just widened as he looked into Draco's grey eyes filled with happiness. It was funny how despite so many staring contests during Hogwarts he'd never realized how mesmerizing and breathtaking the steely grey eyes could actually be. He couldn't take his eyes away from Draco's. Instead he took in every last detail. The dilated pupil, steely gray colour, the long light eyelashes, the bloodshot surroundings and the first faint laughter lines. All of it was so beautiful.

The mesmerizing moment was broken when Albus began to squeal for his father's attention. The men hadn't been the only ones who had noticed the new upgrade in his friends. He was completely taken aback. His friends were making sounds that sounded just like the ones his father made! He had to show it to his father!

"Da!" Albus squealed again when his father just wouldn't stop staring at the new uncle who had brought his new friends, "Da-da!!"

Finally Harry too caught up with what was happening around. He turned his head away so fast that he almost pulled a nerve.

"Yes, Albus?" Harry asked, unable to believe his ears.

"Da!" Albus pointed his finger at Hestia and Scorpius and made some incoherent noises.

At first Albus got happy. His father finally noticed! But to his disappointment Harry slid down from the couch next to him and pulled him into his arms.

"Can you say it again honey?" Harry asked, still awestruck, "Can you say dada again?"

"Da," Albus said surprised.

"Yes, honey. Say it. Say da-da. Dada."

"Da-da?" Albus said in a questioning voice, his tiny brows furrowed as he tried to understand why there were tears in his father's eyes.

"Oh, Albus!" Harry hugged his son. He still couldn't believe his ears. His son had said his first word! First word ever! And it was dada. Now it was Harry's turn to tell someone about this happy news.

He instinctively turned to the man sitting next to him who was now grinning back at him.

"He said it," Harry whispered, unable to speak louder lest he began to cry. It was so wonderful! It had been only a year since his son had been born and now he was so big that he could say dada.

"He indeed did," Draco said and patted the man as a congratulation.

And if the pat turned into a reassuring hold on his shoulder which then turned into a half hug then neither of them noticed it as now the twins had noticed Albus' new skill as well and all four of them were raced to make Albus say other words. But to Draco's amusement and Harry's delight Albus shrieked _dada_ over and over again. And with each shriek he got even more excited and happy. He could talk now too, just like her new friends and the rest of them were cheering at him. He was doing something fun!

At some point even Kreacher stopped by to see young master Albus say his first word over and over again. Whether he noticed the lack of distance between the Malfoy boy and Harry then he didn't comment on it and kept it entirely to himself as it was very against his nature to interrupt in the happiness of his master who had really needed it since his divorce.


	20. Reunion

"Oh, Harry! I am so happy for you!" Hermione said over the floo.

Once he'd had had enough of making Albus repeat his first word, Harry had proceeded to tell Hermione and Ron about it.

"You're happy for what?" Ron's voice came from the background as he had been in another room with Rose and missed it when Harry exitedly told everything that had happened in the morning.

"Albus said his first word," Hermione told him.

Harry couldn't hear what Ron said next as the floo call ended right then and there, but just a moment later he had an armful of best friends patting him on the back like Draco had done that morning. They were happy for him would've been an understatement. They had seen Harry struggle with Albus since the very beginning and they understood how much each new thing about Albus meant for Harry.

"What did he say?" Ron asked.

"He said dada."

"That's amazing, mate. Rose said that too, though after she learnt to say mama. I still remember when she called me dada first time," Ron began to reminisce.

Meanwhile Hermione was looking for the hero of the day, "Harry, where's Albus?"

"Oh, he's napping now. I waited until all the babies would sleep so I could tell you in peace."

"What about Draco and the twins?"

"They went to catch some sleep too," Harry said. After the exhausting night, he should've followed everyone's lead and gone to sleep too but excitement won and he postponed sleep for later, even though he knew that with Albus napping now meant that he'd put up a hell for Harry at night. But getting to tell his best friends about Albus' new skill would be completely worth it.

The three best friends gathered around the kitchen table. Hermione prepared some tea as Harry listened to Ron reminisce about the days when Rose had recently begun to talk. They sat drinking tea and talking about, first children, then other things, only to soon return to children again, for quite long.

"I hope Albus learns to talk properly as fast as Rose did," Harry said. This far Albus had taken his time in his development. Although Hermione and Pansy kept assuring him that it was normal for children Albus' age not be able to talk and walk yet, since he was just a year old, Harry couldn't help feeling scared that perhaps Albus won't develop properly.

Before Hermione could give him the lecture she always did an unexpected voice quipped from the doorway, "Albus is growing fine, _Potter_ , stop graying your hair it. And talking to him on hours end might help a little." Draco strutted drowsily to the kitchen counter and began to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Hello Weasley," he said as he sat down next to Harry with his cup of instant coffee and nodded at Hermione, "Hermione."

"Hi, Draco," Hermione smiled. Over the weekly check ups they had shifted to first name bases.

"Malfoy," Ron nodded back. He still couldn't accept entirely that Harry had just let Draco move in but because the lives of two children was at stake he decided to let it slide. It was their father everyone had a rivalry with not the children, who most probably didn't even know that the Wizarding world existed.

"Draco is right. Albus will develop in his own pace but talking to him a lot will help him," Hermione confirmed his words.

Draco took a sip of his coffee, "Yeah. Vesta used to chatter to the twins all the time. Even during household chores she would tell them step by step about the chores she was doing."

"Ron told Rose about Cannons and I'd usually read out loud, whatever I was reading, to her.," Hermione told them.

"Oh," Harry began to think what things he could talk about with Albus. The father son duo had already fallen into this comfortable silent routine and Harry had no idea what he could possibly ramble about with Albus. "I don't really know what I could possibly talk about with Albus," he confessed to his friends and Draco.

"I'm sure Draco could give you some tips. He's always been the one to ramble."

None of them had to look at the doorway to see Blaise leaning to the doorjamb with a sneer on his face. Although Draco did. He still couldn't believe how easily people could come and go to Grimmauld Place. And he'd thought he was invading Harry's house.

"Blaise?" Harry got up to offer the chair but Blaise stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Draco," he instead approached his old friend, "It's good to see you after so long."

Draco got up and they hugged, "It's good to see you too." And it was. Although he had failed to tell Pansy how much he'd actually missed them it still was true. In the past twenty years he hadn't missed anyone as much as he had missed Blaise and Pansy. Not even professor Snape, or even his mother.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked Blaise, the friendly mock in his voice that they'd developed for each other over the past years.

"Don't get too excited. I came here to meet my best friend not join you in this old people's circle," Blaise quipped back.

"As if your Draco isn't one of us _old people_?"

"I'm right here, in case you two didn't notice," Draco interrupted. He was surprised that Blaise had come after whatever had happened the previous night with Pansy. Draco had thought that perhaps Blaise hated him just as much as Pansy did.

Blaise turned back to him, "Sorry about that. Sometimes Ron needs a reminder that not everyone comes to meet Harry just to act like those mothers in the park talking about their children all the time." He continued before Ron could protest, "I'm sorry for not coming soon. I was busy preparing for the opening of my new business and didn't even catch up with the latest news before yesterday. Found out about you both from the Prophet and Pansy."

Draco couldn't help the smile dropping from his face the moment Blaise mentioned Pansy. Blaise noticed it.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. Pansy didn't really like the surprise I had prepared for her. You know her, she's always taken the anger for one out on another," Blaise laughed.

Draco could hear the nervousness in Blaise's voice. He did remember. How could he ever forget all those times Pansy had gotten vicious with him when Blaise had taken his everchanging sweethearts to Hogsmeade instead of her.

"It's fine, besides she was right," Draco sighed, not realizing that Harry, Ron and Hermione had stopped talking with each other and were watching the reunion between Blaise and Draco.

"What happened last night?" Hermione asked, reminding Draco of their presence.

Blaise sensed that Draco was slightly flustered, "I gave Pansy a surprise. She didn't really like it. Now that Draco's back obviously he's the one she came to vent to."

"Yes, indeed," Draco agreed, sending Blaise a thankful glance.

"Right, Pansy had talked to us about this surprise. What's it about?" Harry asked.

"Actually, that's also why I came here. I need to invite you to a certain place for tomorrow evening. The crowd will be gone by that time and we'll have more time to catch up with each other," Blaise said mysteriously.

"What place?" They all asked in unison.

"Now that's a surprise," Blaise said with a wink.

"Would it be safe to take the twins out?" Draco asked.

"I warded the place accordingly. I've stumbled into a surprising amount of Renaissance patients since Pansy works with them so I took the precautions anyway. The place is warded properly for any and all types of witches, wizards and creatures to dwell in safely," Blaise told him.

They talked a little more before Hermione and Ron had to leave. After they left, with only Harry present Blaise apologized properly to Draco. After that he left too saying he had to go and check on a few things before the following day. The moment Blaise had taken the floo and left the children all woke up which was evident from the storm of cries that both Harry and Draco rushed to silence.


	21. About children

Draco wanted to kick himself in the arse. In his excitement to get out of the house for a while he had forgotten that catching up might also include questions about why he left. Although Blaise was trying to be discreet Draco had already noticed that Blaise was going back in time with each question. Luckily the overjoyed children had kept everyone else occupied.

Blaise had taken the spells down so none of the toys or rides would do anything that would scare and possibly trigger another bulk of memories for the twins. Third one would be too soon for their brains to handle. However they seemed to be having quite a good time. Hestia was having quite the blast and despite being such a _TINY_ bundle of joy she was putting up quite the ruckus stomping from one place to another. Although Rose had taken a little time to warm up to the new girl by now she was having a blast too.

Scorpius was quietly running after his sister and her new friend trying his best to keep up with their pace. And Albus was doing the same after Scorpius. He was trying to follow his new best friend as the said friend kept running away after the loud girl of whom Albus was jealous. She kept stealing his friend and she wasn't even fun. Unfortunately there wasn't much Albus could do since only way he could follow them was crawl very fast. However, occasionally he seemed to be trying to stand up, which was causing Harry an aneurysm. In the end it was only Draco and Blaise sitting and talking. Pansy had opted out from the whole thing and the golden trio was busy with the children.

"Scorp look at this!" Hestia squealed from the top of the huge dragon slide that was meant for older children. No one had any idea how she climbed on top of it, and all of the adults except Draco were gasping in fright. He didn't look fazed at all.

Before Scorpius and Albus could follow Hestia and Rose and attempt to climb too Harry and Ron had dashed after them but before they could help Hestia down, the girl had swung herself into the flame designed slide and in a blink she was out of the slide.

"Your daughter's quite wild," Blaise laughed.

"Overly wild. The brat was too influenced by her mother. Scorp gets wild too but he's still trying to adapt," Draco deadpanned making Blaise laugh again.

"It's not bad. I like the wild ones, they would make the place worth keeping up," Blaise said, smiling ruefully at the children who had calmed down a little and were enjoying the ball pond with various colored balls that Draco had never seen in the muggle ball ponds.

Draco had stopped looking at the children and was looking at his friend. Blaise had grown well, he wasn't the tall and skinny boy anymore. And there was this strange maturity to him that he'd always had but it was ten folds more obvious now.

"I'm surprised how you came up with the idea to open the first magical indoor play park and Pansy is the one opposing it."

"You must've. I never was the most family friendly person," Blaise smiled.

"You guys have changed so much. I never really thought that I'd see any of this when I'd return."

"I don't think you even thought about returning," Blaise said, his voice betraying bitterness the same way Pansy's had.

"No, I didn't," Draco said truthfully.

Pansy might've been the one who was closest to Draco and the one with whom Draco always shared all of his secrets, but Blaise was someone with whom Draco could share all these things, maybe not always, but whenever he did he did it truthfully.

"And I don't think you're planning on sticking around?"

"Not really, the children have their lives in the muggle world, I've got a job. Even being here for this illness is taking too much toll, at least on me."

"I can imagine," Blaise said, his eyes still on the twins.

Draco didn't miss the way Blaise was looking at the playing children, the small smile playing on his lips.

"You don't have any of your own yet, do you?" He asked Blaise.

He'd seen that same expression, full of longing, on the faces of many muggles who were too busy with their lives to be able to settle down.

"We'll never have any of our own," Blaise said. His face stern but the smile still on place.

Draco was surprised.

"You'll never..?"

"It was a curse. Late night, drunk at a bar, went to get some steam off. Came and cursed me. At least he let me keep my parts," Blaise laughed drily.

It was just like back in Hogwarts after the war. The eighth year Slytherins who had dared to come back, divided into two groups. Draco, Pansy and Blaise in one and the rest of them in the other. After the war Blaise had taken it upon himself to protect both his crush and his best friend which had earned him plenty of hexes and jinxes too.

The three of them would sit after the entire day sharing their daily attack stories as if they were talking about the weather.

"Did you even inform the aurors?" Draco said, not letting the shock take over. In the same way he'd never alerted anyone back in Hogwarts.

"I did. On Pansy's insistence. But they never caught anyone. That sly bastard."

Draco was shocked. Why would anyone do that to Blaise? He felt guilty for not being there for his friends when they needed him the most.

"I'm—" Draco stopped himself, "I don't really know what to say."

"I'm sorry, that's awful, so sorry to hear that. Heard them all and none of them cured me, so I'm just glad that you don't know what to say."

"I guess, I'm more sorry about not being here, than for what happened.´And I can now understand why Pansy hated the surprise so much."

"Yeah, she thinks I haven't been able to let go or I'm torturing myself this way, punishing. But I'm not. I've gotten over it but not my desire to have children around so I figured this is the perfect way. Don't worry she'll come around eventually. And don't be sorry either. Your presence here wouldn't have fixed anything at all, instead you might've ended up being the target. But you managed quite a lot there," Blaise said, winking at Draco, "Tell me more about them."

Draco blushed. He had no reason to but the way Blaise leered was nastier than sex itself could ever get.

"Yeah," Draco said trying to hide the embarrassed smile behind his cup of tea. "I happened after the war. I thought it would do good for our image if I made a few muggle friends. Met their mother while trying that, it was a whirlwind romance and the next thing I knew was that I was going to become a father. I don't think anyone would've been impressed if they found out that one of the main villains in the war had gone and knocked up a muggle. Besides Vesta was older than me and the type mother wouldn't have liked. Besides I guess I just needed a break so running away felt like the most natural decision.

Blaise had been listening to Draco silently. He had a lot of questions on his mind but now was not the time to ask them, but he couldn't help himself entirely. "As far as I remembered you never stepped out without me or Pansy. I wonder when you had the time to befriend muggles let alone get a muggle woman pregnant," Blaise said, copying Draco as he hid his face behind his tea cup, but for entirely different reasons.

Draco had forgotten how smart and sly Blaise could be at times.


	22. Staring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy it peeps while you still can, I have a bad feeling about running out of motivation soon. I swear I won't abandon this fic but there might be a dip so I'm setting the plot bunnies free while they're still hopping around. Plus my classes are about to start and there'll be lot of studying to do so I might or might not drop a little on the already slow writing pace. But then again I never keep my own warnings so only time will tell what my procrastinating devil on the shoulder will let me do.

The smell of fresh apple pie wafted throughout entire Grimmauld Place. It didn't matter what room Harry was in he couldn't get away from it, not that he really minded anyway. Somehow in about a month he had gotten way too accustomed to have Draco around the house doing comfortably whatever he wanted. And it didn't just limit to Draco baking pies out of the blue three days in a row. Harry couldn't explain the fuzzy feeling when he saw Draco hog the remote and slump on the couch or roam around the house in clothes that Draco seemed to find comfortable. Although Harry wasn't really that sure about it.

This far he had never seen Draco in anything that didn't cover his limbs entirely. The only bits of skin Harry had seen this far were his hands, neck and face. He wore socks even inside the house. Harry had asked him once how he could tolerate so many layers on himself. Draco had just shrugged his shoulders and said it was far lesser than all the things he used to wear combined with his robes. Which Harry knew was true. But lately he had grown this weird desire to see Draco in something even more comfortable. He had to admit that part of this desire was his curiosity about Draco's tattoos. The tendrils around his neck attracted Harry's attention too.

Harry couldn't help it though. The black outlined tendrils that looked like they wrapped around Draco's neck were a stark contrast against Draco's pale pearly skin. And the tendrils were placed barely under his Adam's apple making it look like he barely escaped from being choked. Harry had caught himself several times staring at his neck, at the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he ate or talked. Luckily, Draco hadn't noticed it this far.

Draco had thought that he could outsmart Blaise's smart attempts of getting the real story out of him by taking the children to the play park every evening. Initially it had worked, he was left behind at home all alone with the excuse of baking. Meanwhile Harry would go with them to the play park. Except today. It had been the third day. Draco refused at first. Taking the children there for free three times already was enough. But Blaise insisted. And the twins had gotten excited too. Even Albus had learnt after only three days that seeing uncle Blaise meant fun few hours. Draco couldn't bring himself to refuse the children all the fun. So once again with the excuse of baking some pie for dinner he left behind despite Blaise's endless requests to join.

At first Harry had joined them but then he suddenly came back. Apparently Pansy had finally joined Blaise in the play park. With the children around Draco could excuse Harry's staring. The man was clearly overwhelmed by all the responsibilities a single father had so he only observed Draco. But now there were no children and Draco was doing nothing related to parenting, yet Harry was staring at him as if Draco wouldn't notice it. He didn't even look at the man, he could feel the gaze of those green eyes on his back.

Not that it should've mattered much, but it did to Draco. It resurfaced all the feelings that had festered in his heart all those years ago. He'd thought he was over that phase. Specially with Vesta and the children. But current moment proved him wrong. He could feel his heart flutter and the blood rush to his ears. It was all so wrong. He'd never really had the chance to mean anything of that sort to Harry and even less now that they both had women in their lives that they couldn't forget. Besides Draco suspected if Harry really needed to forget Ginny. While Pansy was still coming for her daily visits she had told Draco about Ginny's baby blues. Draco was sure that sooner or later she'll take over Harry's life all over again. Just like she had all those years ago.

Just the thought of it made Draco so mad that he felt like turning around and hexing the beautiful pair of green eyes. Why the hell was Harry staring at him? He barely managed to calm himself down. It was nothing like that. Harry must be just admiring how he had energy left for baking pies after an entire day of parenting. That must be it. He slowly inhaled and exhaled trying his best to calm himself down. There was no reason for him to get mad. He turned around not sure why. But Harry was looking down at a pile of parchments. Had it all been simply his imagination?

Once the pie was in the oven Draco joined Harry by the kitchen table where Harry was supposed to be going through some work related parchments. When he'd brought them to the kitchen Draco had been a little surprised but he had been too busy baking to actually pay attention to it before now.

"How's work going?" Draco asked, peering a little to see what school related Harry could possibly be doing in the middle of the summer.

"Fine. There are only a few more left before I'm done," Harry lied. He hadn't managed to check any of the essays since he was busy ogling Draco's back. The way his coloured brown curls fell to the nape of his neck.

"What are you working on?" Draco asked.

"Just some potions essays," Harry said, pretending to actually look through the essays. He really wanted to pay attention to them but with Draco sitting right next to him Harry couldn't help getting distracted.

"Potions? I thought you taught them DADA?" Draco asked, his attention shifting from Harry to the essays upon the mention of potions.

"I thought my summer would be uneventful so I promised to check the essays for her since she had a trip planned with her family," Harry explained.

"Oh," Draco said and then pointed at the essay Harry had just somehow managed to finish halfway, "You missed the ingredients. There are too many. You don't need neem oil in these potions."

Harry read the paragraph telling about typical ingredients again and realized Draco was right. He awful compared to eighth year Draco but he'd improved enough to occasionally substitute or check a few essays. He underlined the part and continued from where he'd been. However, only a few lines in Draco pointed yet another mistake Harry had missed.

"The petals of daisy have to be cut in to part not chopped entirely."

When it took Harry a while to find the part where he'd read about the daisy petals Draco snatched the parchment and the quill from him and underlined the essay himself. Harry would've taken the essay back, since Draco wasn't quite allowed to be doing his work. But seeing Draco engrossed in the essay made Harry change his mind without thinking further. He checked through the essays as much as he could and handed them to Draco to check through. There were a few that even Draco couldn't fix. Since he'd left the wizarding world there had been changes in the potions that were used and Draco didn't recognize them from what he'd known.

It took them about an hour and a half to get through the whole pile. Perfectly timed with Blaise's arrival. And Pansy's. Pansy had sleeping Albus in her arms while Blaise held the yawning twins by their hands. As Harry gathered everything Draco took the children. He took Albus to Harry's room, the twins tailing him like little ducklings. Then he lead the twins to their room where they fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed. Draco changed their clothes before heading downstairs again, where he saw Pansy waiting for him, both Blaise and Harry were gone.

Just as he was about to ask where they'd gone Pansy interrupted him, "Blaise and Harry are checking some of Albus' toys so Blaise can get new ideas for the play park."

Draco nodded unsure what else to say. He knew Pansy was rightfully angry but he had no idea how to explain himself or apologize.

"I need to talk to you," Pansy said after a moment of silence, "Blaise, I'm taking Draco to the play park to show the new dragon you installed."

Before Draco could say anything Pansy had apparated them to the play park.


	23. Distance

Once they were at the play park Draco stood awkwardly while Pansy pinned him down with her deathliest glare.

"So," she finally broke the ice.

"So?" Draco asked, confused.

Pansy exhaled loudly, "Blaise told me everything."

"Everything?"

"About how you met your wife, got her pregnant and then ran away from here."

"I told all of that to you as well," Draco said meekly.

"But you never told me that you were trying to make muggle friends or that you were having a whirlwind romance or that you were going to have a child!" Pansy hissed.

Draco had no idea what to say.

"Draco," Pansy continued, "I'm sorry for lashing out on you like that. Blaise told me later what I had done to the twins when I slammed the door like that."

"But I told him not-"

"And I hate you for that too," Pansy interrupted him, "I'm tired of you keeping things from us. After finding out about your crush on Harry and your mark I thought you would finally trust me enough. That I finally was worthy of being called a best friend. But even after all that you still kept secrets. We grew up together, we were in the war together. I always confided in you and I knew that you would do the same. Seems like I was wrong."

"Pans, I am so sorry. I didn't want to keep secrets and I told you so when you found out about my mark."

"Then why did you leave us in the dead of the night?"

"I- I just didn't know how to face you."

"Don't try to give me that bullshit. I always knew you had nothing personal against muggles. And even less after the war."

Draco knew he was in trouble now. He simply couldn't bring himself to talk about it, all the memories were too painful. Then he remembered. Perhaps his phone didn't have a wifi but using the photo gallery didn't require it either. Instead of answering Pansy's question he dug out his phone and searched for the photo of his wife to show it to Pansy. Pansy stared at the photo for a while. And then gave the phone back to Draco.

"I can see why you kept it from Narcissa, and certainly why from Blaise but it still doesn't explain why you kept her a secret from me," Pansy snapped, unable to understand how Draco could ever fall in love with the woman in the photo. She was pretty but all the piercings and the weird hair could've even failed Luna's weird sense of style.

Draco smiled back at the woman smiling at him from his screen. If he'd actually met Vesta before leaving the wizarding world there would've been only one reason he would've kept her a secret.

"Because I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with her. I was afraid that it'll end soon and then all that spreading of joyful news would be for nothing. I was afraid that I might fuck it all up or fate would get me again like it always does."

Suddenly he felt a cloud of faint flowery scent around him embracing him. Pansy was hugging him just like she used to in Hogwarts whenever she noticed that Draco was getting gloomy again.

"I can understand now, but I'm still not forgiving you for it. We had decided that we won't let fate ruin our lives anymore."

Yes, they had. And no the decision, the promise they'd given to each other hadn't helped because it hadn't been the fate ruining his life, it was an auror.

Draco just let himself be hugged by his best friend. It felt good. The embrace wasn't exactly a motherly one but it still made him feel safe. It was a feeling he had no idea he'd missed ever since Vesta had passed away. And then just like that the feeling was gone as Pansy pulled away from the hug.

"So out of all the muggles you could find you took the one with a rooster's crown?" Pansy jabbed at him. She wasn't completely over with her hurt, but now she understood the circumstances better than before.

"It's called a Mohawk Pans, and she got rid of it quite soon." _She didn't have one throughout the years we spent together, the photo was from before we met._

"So how'd yo pull it off?" Pansy asked, finally a small curious smile playing on her lips.

"Pull what off?"

"As far as I remember after the war Narcissa never left you unguarded. She even made the only remaining house-elf to be you bodyguard."

 _He was too strong for even a house-elf._ "Oh, Pans," Draco smiled, "You know how good I was at avoiding house-elves since childhood. I dodged the darn bugger to go meet Vesta."

"And then?"

 _She came with her ugly car at the last moment and saved me._ "She suddenly offered me a tour of the big wide world on her motorbike. The offer was to good to be passed up so I sat on the back seat and left with her."

"That was quite the way to leave the wizarding world," a male voice suddenly said. Blaise and Harry had joined them with the children who'd come to fetch Draco home for dinner.

"I guess it was," Draco smiled, feeling embarrassed even though he shouldn't have. Over the years lying had become so easy that he no more had a trouble in believing in his own lies.

Pansy then urged Draco to show the photo of Vesta to Blaise and Harry too. Meanwhile the twins furrowed their brows at the distance between Draco and Harry and the lack of distance between Draco and Pansy.


	24. A/N

Thank you guys so much for all the kudos, comments, encouragement and constructive criticism! As you can see I'm not dead yet, and haven't abandoned the fic either. I just got done with all the exams and even got a several days' break. I'll finally get working on this fic again but...

I write all my fics straight up in here (no first drafts, atm my beta can't check them either), with the help of a very vague outline. So as you can see and as the tags say I've dug myself a grave and now the fic is going wrong in all the ways possible, so I'll have to go back and fix the chapters from the very beginning. I'm sorry for the sudden mega edit. I appreciate all of you guys who have stuck with me this far despite the fic getting gradually crappy. If you stick around for this new edit (that I'm hoping will save this fic) I hope it reaches your expectations. If not sorry for ruining the fic you'd been looking forward to.

! However, don't worry. The main idea of the fic will remain as it was, Draco and his mysterious babies struggling through The Renaissance, while Harry and Albus tag along. In fact much of the beginning will remain same, and many of the details about their private lives and the details about Renaissance will be just the way they are now. 

!! I won't be deleting any chapters. I'll make the changes on the existing ones and then write an A/N on the progress. I know it's tacky and awful for you readers. So you can either read along or wait until the final A/N.

!!! I love constructive criticism, so do send that my way. But no comments on how I'm dealing with this new edit. I'm not doing the edit in this annoying tacky way just to torment you lot. It's either this way or my stubborn mind will make me delete the whole thing at once.

Once again, I'm super sorry for this sudden 180 turn, and thank you so much for your patience and encouragement!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a lot of time updating and editing. I had some technical issues with laptops and then with my data plan -_- but now I'm back on track :D as I promised in the final A/N
> 
> Also there won't be any titles to the new chapters because I'm bad at that. Only reason the older ones have them is because giving them mediocre titles helped me stay on track with the editing instead of having to read the whole fic over and over and over and over and over again.

If only Draco had known better he would've been more careful of his own offspring instead of Blaise and Pansy, who, nonetheless, were a risk factor for him. And specially now that they had given in so easily. It was never that easy with them. However, what the twins were about to get him into was nothing compared to being exposed to his best friends.

The tiny furrows between two tiny sets of eyebrows turned into a tiny frown as a few weeks passed. The twins had technically turned six but it didn't hinder them from being able to let the little one year old toddler follow them around. Instead they seemed to cherish Albus a lot. Seeing the children get along made both Harry and Draco quite happy. But the twins couldn't say the same about Harry and Draco.

It was obvious to both twins that as much as the men liked each other's company they kept circling around each other as if both of them had fought and were waiting for the other to apologize instead of initiating it themselves. Something had to be done about it and the twins decided to take action. But only way to stop a fight was to tell an adult but the twins knew no one who could be more adult than Harry and Draco. And as if fate had decided to help them, an adult more adult than the men was offered to them on a silver platter the day Hermione came for the weekly check up to declare the six year old twins perfectly fit and fine.

"There you go!" Hermione smiled and helped Scorpius button his shirt, "and have you had head aches anymore?"

Scorpius shook his head. The boy was a little shy and refused to talk any to any other adults except for Draco, Harry and Blaise.

"That's great. Now then, off you go." Hermione sent the little boy to play and then she turned to Draco, and Harry too, both of whom always joined the weekly check ups keeping a hawk like watch on the twins as if Hermione wasn't the one treating them but the one to cause them harm. Which made sense with Draco but in Harry's case Hermione was worried that his savior complex was returning.

"Both of them seem fine. Have either of you noticed anything different in them?"

"No, we haven't," Harry answered, surprising Hermione, while Draco just nodded along.

"And what about their magic? Have they shown any signs yet?" Hermione asked despite knowing that just as always Draco would get a little annoyed and tell her that they were squibs. But to surprise her even further it was Harry who answered.

"No, they haven't."

He couldn't understand why Hermione wouldn't leave hi— _Draco's_ children alone. Wasn't it enough that Draco had to live with the fact that his children, despite being Malfoy's, weren't able to perform magic? Did Hermione really need to remind them about it every week she came? Harry couldn't help feeling the jab in his own heart each time she mentioned it, although he didn't acknowledge it yet.

Draco nodded his head along again, though this time he seemed a little bit annoyed. And so did Harry. Sensing the dangerous vibes, specially from Harry, Hermione changed the subject.

"I see," she scribbled down on her report as she began to tell them about a surprising visitor she had had that week, "Narcissa had come to my office last Wednesday."

Draco wasn't as surprised about it as she had anticipated.

"Oh?" was all he said very nonchalantly. However, Hermione didn't miss the sideways glance Draco threw at the children. He knew why his mother had visited Hermione. She decided to cut to the chase.

"She came to ask for the reports, but since you haven't put anyone else but yourself as family I couldn't tell her. She wasn't willing to budge."

"And then? I believe you managed to stand your ground?" Draco asked warily.

"Yes, I did. Thought I needed a little help from Pansy."

"I guess I owe her one then," Draco said, looking relieved.

"Yes, you do. In fact, I'm telling you about this on her own request. Pansy wants you to visit your parents. With the twins."

Draco didn't even stop to think about it, "I'm afraid I can't." He looked tensed again.

"Draco I understand you might not want to meet your father, but you could at least meet Narcissa," Hermione insisted.

"Just because you're on first name basis with my mother doesn't mean that you can come to me with such horrible requests. Even if it was Pansy wo asked you to. I already told you, I can't meet them."

"If you won't meet them then Narcissa will keep coming to my office to ask about the children."

"Then just turn her back," Draco said with as much disinterest as he could.

"Even if I do so, you know, she did have a point." Hermione said.

"A point?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

"You're the only family member in our records. The aurors are still doing the paperwork so they haven't marked you as alive yet even though all of the wizarding world knows about you, so we can't automatically put your parents in charge of the children if something ever happens to you."

"Nothing is happening to me, and given that I am housing under the roof of _the savior_ I hardly believe anything would happen to me or my children."

Harry had been listening to both of them but now he decided to interject as Hermione was right. "Draco you know that Hermione is right. I can't ensure your safety all the time. The least you could do is give the secondary guardianship to your parents. Besides you do owe Narcissa at least a visit. She was beyond herself with grief after you left. You have even made amends with Pansy and Blaise."

If it hadn't been for her job Hermione could've never been able to focus both on the on going conversation and scrutinizing the way both men acted around each other. Harry was telling Draco the same things as Hermione had but the blond man seemed to be a lot more open to whatever Harry said. There wasn't even a frown on his face. Just the unwillingness of a stubborn child, which Harry seemed to be managing fairly well.

To confirm the little inkling she had in her mind Hermione added, "In fact I shouldn't even be allowing Harry to join us on these weekly check ups, since he's not a guardian and you have never mentioned explicitly that he should be allowed to join them."

The inking was confirmed as Harry's face darkened a moment later when his brains registered what Hermione had said and Draco looked even more irritated.

"Of course he is allowed to join us," he snapped, "If he hadn't then I would've kicked him out myself every single time. Besides I thought that he was automatically a secondary guardian because we live with him."

"No, he isn't. You have to complete some paperwork for that to happen. Without that Harry will have only some limited rights, specially in serious situations."

Harry's face darkened even further, which Draco didn't seem to notice.

"What are you waiting for then. Give me the papers. Of course the twins need a secondary guardian in case something happens to me!"

Hermione wanted to facepalm at the goofy half grin Harry suddenly had and how oblivious Draco was at the sudden turn in his own opinions. Suddenly now there was a chance for something to happen to him even though he was living with _the savior_.

"That's what I've been telling you all this time, you should give the rights to your parents since the aurors aren't done with the paperwork yet."

Harry's face fell again. Of course, Draco's parent she ought to be the ones getting the right.

"No, it's not the same. Once the aurors get their job done my parents will get their rights automatically. But Harry won't. Besides we're living with him and in any situation the twins will be more comfortable with Harry than my parents. They don't even know them." Draco argued as if all the things he said were the most natural thing. Hearing that Harry couldn't do much if anything ever happened to him seemed to bother Draco a lot.

Hermione understood, specially now. But her clearly oblivious friend was having a harder time with it, though she hardly believed that Draco realized it himself either. Harry didn't want to be in the way of the older Malfoys. Besides he couldn't understand how Draco could be giving up on such an opportunity when Harry would give the world just to have his parents see what a fine little boy Albus was.

Knowing Harry for as long as she had Hermione knew. And before Harry could say anything she quickly gave Draco an offer, as she still needed to keep her promise to Pansy that she'd at least make Draco agree to meet Narcissa.

"Fine, I'll mark Harry as a secondary guardian in their files. But you have to at least meet Narcissa once. I have other patients too so I can't always spend time trying to explain how things work officially and Pansy can't always come for my aid in the middle of her day off or her shift."

Draco was still very reluctant to agree to it but since he'd gotten away with one thing he knew he wouldn't get away with another. Grudgingly he nodded and assured Hermione he would reach out to his mother himself.

After Hermione left the life in Grimmauld place continued as it always did, except both Harry and Draco were even more troubled than before meanwhile the twins had gotten a brilliant idea, at least in their own opinion.


	26. Chapter 26

Draco had asked Harry to look after the twins and locked himself into the guest room for the entire evening.

It was fun and tiring to spend so many hours with the children. Hestia, always the little attention demanding princess, kept asking Harry's opinion on her drawings or demanding Harry to play dress up with her with the limited repertoire Hermione had managed to sneak behind Rose's back to them. Luckily Hestia was a very careful girl and once they were done playing she, slightly poorly, folded the princess dresses back into the bag they'd been in. Then she very drowsily climbed on Harry's lap for a story, not a bed time story mind you, but soon she was snoring lightly against Harry's chest.

Harry didn't want to disturb Draco so for now he put Hestia to sleep on the couch. Harry himself was quite tall but Draco was even taller, even though only by a few inches. And the twins had clearly taken after him in height, being slightly taller compared to other children their age. Which is why maneuvering her from the awkward position to the couch was a bit hard. But by the time Harry was done tucking her under one of Albus' tiny blankets he didn't even remember the moment he nearly sprained his ankle, or the blob of drool drying on his shirt that he'd initially wanted to avoid. All he knew was that the brown curls falling over her face made her look one of those little angels on Christmas products.

Another thing he knew was that he'd have to shut up the two blabbering boys lest they woke up hi— _Draco's_ little angel.

"Come on boys, don't be so loud or Hessie will wake up," he said in a hushed voice.

The boys who were playing train conductors began to whisper scream for the tickets they'd been collecting from the plushies, some of which were Albus', some Rose's and majority what Blaise had bought for the twins much to Draco's chagrin. They walked around collecting the little ripped pieces of paper substituting as tickets. Technically Scorpius was the one collecting them, Albus just waddled behind him gurgling little semi words attempting to copy the older boy. As they passed by a dragon plushie, being magical, it suddenly jumped up and began to flutter the little wings on its back. Scorpius gave it a disapproving glance and took the piece of paper laying on the ground where the dragon had been too and then walked on, Albus on the other hand stood shakily on the spot and giggled at the dragon.

It was one of those things that Harry was very surprised about.

In the beginning Draco had requested Harry to not perform any magic in front of the twins, but Harry being Harry couldn't always help not noticing that the twins were around when he performed some small spells mostly to close doors from distance or open jars. Each time Draco caught Harry his lips would purse into a line and for next few days he'd keep a hawk like watch on his children but as time passed he began to warm up to Harry and magic too. Harry never dared to ask for the specifics, in the first few weeks because of the punch he still remembered, and on the later week Draco warming up to it he never felt like pushing the matter further. Besides somehow Draco still today left him flustered and searching for words so he didn't even know how to go around with asking more about Draco. Instead he just greedily clutched to every little story that Draco surprisingly often told him about his muggle life.

The twins, however, reacted in ways Harry couldn't quite comprehend and it still puzzled him quite a lot. On the later weeks upto now whenever they noticed Harry doing one of his little tricks to make life easier they'd just turn a blind eye to it. But on a few occasions Harry had caught Hestia secretly playing with the magical toys when no one was around and quite enjoy the magical tweaks. Scorpius, on the other hand, seemed to have an animosity against all of the toys unless they laid around like normal muggle toys, although he didn't seem to mind keep a watch for his sister in case anyne came.

Even if the twins never showed any signs on magical abilities themselves it seemed like they were well aware of magic. Or maybe being just a pair of children they were more open minded to everything. Which was perfectly believable. Unlike Harry, who had entered the wizarding world with a gaping mouth and still today got surprised by things he didn't know before, the twins seemed to adjust to every single change like nothing. Then again their father was Draco Malfoy, the epitome of a resting face that never reveals any emotions.

Harry was still keeping an eye on the slowly tiring boys when he finally heard the door of the guest room open and shut and the light thuds of Draco's steps coming down the stairs. The moment Draco stepped into the living room all the budding questions Harry had in his mind where gone. Draco was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a white undershirt leaving his arms and neck area completely exposed. The tattoo tendrils bobbing with the movement of Draco's Adam's apple made Harry nearly choke on the breath he'd been holding.

"Sorry about that Harry. You must be tired after all the baby sitting," Draco said, rushing to the sleeping girl as if she was somehow bothering Harry.

He gulped, trying not to splutter like a moron, "No, it's fine. We had a lot of fun. Didn't we Scorp?"

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed in his tiny voice.

Harry watched as the lean muscles on Draco's upper back contracted when he hauled Hestia up from the couch with a quite _humph_. Luckily he called out to Scorpius before turning around, giving Harry a few seconds to gain his composure back. Last thing Harry wanted was to get caught tearing slack jawed at Draco's muscles as the man moved around busy holding his daughter so she won't fall. But it was hard for him to keep his eyes off of the black ink staining Draco's body leaving only speckles of smooth white skin here and there. At least on the arms. Harry couldn't begin to even imagine what it must've looked like on the parts that the shirt was hiding under it.

Scorpius gave Albus a quick and tight goodnight hug before sprinting after his father when Harry remembered.

"Oh, Draco! You didn't have your dinner yet," he shouted at the back that he'd been ogling just a moment ago.

"I'm not really that hungry today," Draco said back, his voice only a shy away from being a shout that Harry could hear him since he couldn't turn around on the stairs.

There was this tiredness to Draco's voice that kept Harry from insisting for him to have dinner. And Harry had even decided to wait for Draco to have a dinner together. Sullenly Harry cleared up everything in the kitchen, left the mess in the living room for Kreacher and after their night routine lifted up yawning Albus into his arms and made his way to his bedroom. As he patted Albus into dreamland he wondered what he could be doing wrong.

Sure Draco was warming up to him, but there was still this invisible distance between them. It had been like this in the eighth year too. There was a truce between them and by the end of the year him and Draco coulda even pair up for projects without he I guess each other, but it was just that. A truce. Nothing more. He'd have to admit that he never really tried that hard to cross the distance himself either, but neither did Draco. But back then they were worlds apart, now they weren't. Yet still he just couldn't keep Draco's attention for as long as he wanted. Then again Draco's life was in a completely different stage despite his children being small children all over again. Perhaps Draco just didn't feel the need to connect with other "new" single fathers that Harry did.

Despite the hunger gnawing at him Harry didn't feel like eating anymore. Instead he just opted to tossing and turning until sleep would finally take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was a bit more scattered and heavy than what I usually write. But I think I'll get back into the flow soon as I write more :)


	27. Chapter 27

It was getting annoying. Harry couldn't sleep and he couldn't even toss and turn to try and find a comfortable way to sleep as it made Albus fuss in his sleep. If Albus woke up now he wouldn't sleep for rest of the night. Not that it would be a bad thing during summer vacation but then he'd end up skipping breakfast too.

He tried carefully and extremely slowly to turn around on his side without waking up Albus when he heard a faint knock on the door.

"Harry?"

What was Draco doing outside his room in the middle of the night? Harry got out of his bed as quickly as he could without waking up the sleeping boy and tiptoed across the room.

"Draco? Do you need something?" Harry asked, worried by Draco's sudden appearance outside of his room.

"Did I wake you up?" Draco asked, sounding slightly worried as well.

"No. No, you didn't. Albus took his sweet time falling asleep," Harry lied.

"Good," Draco said and then realizing what he said quickly rushed to correct himself, "I mean it's bad, even Scorpius took ages to sleep. But I mean it's good you haven't fallen asleep yet. I need to, I mean there's something— Ugh, _Potter_ just follow me, okay?"

Draco was completely flustered and he felt glad that Harry couldn't tell in the dark how flushed he was looking.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Just close the door behind you so Albus doesn't wake up," Draco said and then turned on his heels carefully making his way downstairs in the dark.

Harry did what Draco asked him to and then followed him. When he got downstairs he saw the lights from kitchen illuminating into the hallway. He entered the kitchen and saw Draco waiting for him by the table with the food, Harry had earlier put away, warmed up again and ready to be eaten.

"Scorpius told me you hadn't eaten with them. I came and checked the fridge and saw two nicely served plates of mashed potatoes and fish fingers freezing there," Draco playfully snickered at Harry.

There hadn't been many moments in his life when he'd been at the loss of words. Usually Harry always managed to come up with a retort or something nice to say depending on the situation. But this was one of those moments when he was so surprised that he couldn't even think of how to react let alone to come up with something to say. Only thing not surprising about it was that the one to surprise him was Draco.

Finally Harry managed to break from the daze and he sat down across Draco, too hungry to take the bait.

"You came to wake me up for this?" Harry asked as he dug into his food.

"I suddenly felt hungry and since Scorp mentioned you I thought I wouldn't mind some company while eating. Not really used to it, you see."

To be honest Draco still wasn't feeling like eating but when Scorpius told him about Harry's plan he'd felt bad. And he remembered from their Hogwarts days that Harry couldn't sleep with an empty stomach. Funny though he had no idea how he'd found out about it. Was it Crabbe or Goyle who'd managed to acquire this bit of information for him?

Both men ate in silence enjoying the comfort of it. Once the initial bout of hunger was over Harry stopped wolfing down his meal and broke the silence.

"So you're not used to eating on your own?" He asked, lacking anything better to talk about.

"All four houses ate their meals at the same time and soon after Hogwarts I became a family man. So there weren't that many meals that I had to eat on my own," Draco said, putting his fork back on the plate.

"And what about your family?" Harry asked, "I mean at the manor."

Draco's jaw twitched at the mention of the manor. "Mother insisted on having the meals together. And they would be big and fancy even if it was just me and my parents. In fact if they saw me now eating this meal, and with only a fork they'd be scandalized!" He chuckled.

Harry understood what Draco meant. "I know. After your disappearance I'd go to the manor to update her on our search for you. Eventually it became a Sunday brunch," Harry told Draco absentmindedly, his thoughts veered off to the distraught looking Narcissa who'd try to small talk only to ask about Draco after every few sentences.

"Update her on your search?" Draco asked, suddenly alert.

"Yes. In the beginning she'd come asking about it. Soon it began to take a toll on her health so I promised to visit her every week to keep her updated. And well, then she began to invite me for brunch and to be honest I enjoyed the brunches so I never stopped going," Harry explained, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Draco relaxed a little and snickered, "Of course, you did. Mother's arrangements for brunches were always extraordinary. I used to prefer the Sunday brunches over any snacks. They even ended up being the only meal that I could actually eat after the war."

Digging back into the remaining food on his plate he didn't realize the words that had left his mouth.

"Yes, Narcissa mentioned it once. She told me that you didn't even show up for other meals." Harry said, his tone more questioning than anything else.

"I— It was just slightly disturbing to eat in the same dining room where the Dark Lord used to spend all of his time," Draco said. Usually he would've said some bullshit about trying to get back in shape after the war. But this wasn't usually, in fact there was no usually. This was the second time he was talking about his life after the war. The first time being when he'd fallen apart into a teary mess in his late wife's arms. But he was talking to Harry, the man, _boy_ , who knew the horrors of the war better than anyone could, even Draco himself.

"Figures," Harry said, not pushing the matter any further. But then he remembered the conversation with Hermione a few days back during the weekly check up. "But you know, manor has changed a lot over the years. It's not really what it used to be like. I'm sure if you visited the manor at least once you'd quite like it."

" _Potter_ , I can see what you're trying to do," Draco said, making Harry blush in embarrassment, "And I'd quite appreciate it if you stopped. Trying to write a letter to owl mother has been stressing enough."

"A letter?"

"Yes. I thought about what Hermione told me and what you and Pansy told me about mother. About her getting worried when I left. I owe her an apology and a visit. So I wrote her a letter today when I asked you to take care of the children."

"Oh. That's what you were doing?" Harry said.

"Yes. Why? What'd you think I was doing?" Draco asked, curious to hear Harry's answer.

"I mean you keep going back home for work so I thought maybe you brought work back here with you."

"I try not to take work back home with me and even less now that I have to look after the twins."

Both of them had finished their food. They got up and cleaned after themselves before going upstairs. At the stair before turning to different directions Harry halted.

"Are you done with the letter?"

"Yes. Why?"

"If you want to owl it you'll need an actual owl," Harry smiled.

"Remind me in the morning," Draco smiled back, "Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Draco."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending ended up being a bit awkward and choppy, but overall this is actually one of those chapters that I personally liked a lot :D


	28. Chapter 28

Although Vesta had bent the "archaic" English out of Draco to make him blend more easily in muggle university Draco had never been able to pick up slangs and abbreviations used in daily spoken language. Only word he really got some kick out of was 'hella' which most certainly had something to do with the twins trying accents. But at the present moment Draco really felt like 'facepalm' would be a very useful word to add to his repertoire, or maybe not. He wasn't sure, he'd have to wait till the twins grew back old and then ask them. Though he'd rather prefer to be in the dark regarding the matter.

The sight in front of him was the most ludicrous one ever. The twins were running in circles being loud and obnoxious and Albus was wobbling behind them, all three of them wrapped only in towels, and poor Harry was standing there holding pieces of clothing looking at them like he had no idea what they were meant for.

"You little supervillains stop right now," he said, unable to decide if he should chuckle at them or scold them, "Albus can't keep up with you if you keep running like that. And what in the name of Merlin are you doing, _Potter_?"

Upon seeing Draco Harry let out a sigh of relief. The children were still fooling around but at least Draco's playful reprimand had made them tone it down a little. If the children would've kept shouting and running in circles while Harry had to figure out how to wear the robes he would've gone mad.

"I was just trying to figure out how to put these robes on. I seriously have never seen a robe weirder than this," Harry said, pushing the robe in his hands towards Draco. It was full of strings, some of them tied to knots and some untied, on the inner side. Draco remembered seeing these robes ages ago when he was very young. These robes were mainly meant for children who had trouble keeping their robes from being all over the place and look graceful. Suffices to say that Draco himself never needed one, but he knew many wizards and witches who did.

"These are robes simplified. That's why they look weird," he explained, "But what are you doing with these?"

"Simplified, huh? I'd wear any of those formal atrocities anytime over these," Harry scoffed, unable to understand how they were simplified versions of robes.

"And look at them! Harry, you can't try to figure out the robes when all three of them are stark naked catching cold!" Draco walked past Harry to immediately get into action and very quickly and swiftly help the children dry themselves.

"Ah, right. I was supposed to do that, but I got distracted by the robes," Harry said with a sheepish grin, making all this time stunned Draco grin as well.

"Let me show you how it's done."

Draco first fished the appropriate underwear from the couch and with the help of Harry had the children look less like ghosts and more like children abandoned in the forest. Then he inspected the outfits carefully scattered over the couch and with Harry's help had the children wear them.

Scorpius' outfit was rich creamy white complimenting his pale blonde hair, and it had silvery borders that brought up the colour of his soft grey eyes. Draco took the robe and showed Harry how the weird strings inside were mean to be tied around arms, chest and stomach to keep the robe in place and once the button near the shoulder was buttoned those strings would get hidden inside making it look like Scorpius had gotten the course of looking neat in his robes from the most stylist wizards of the Wizarding world.

"Was that how you looked so refined all the time?" Harry asked, half teasing and half actually wondering.

"Of course not, _Potter_. I was indeed trained by the best of the best in Wizarding world to behave myself during events," Draco said haughtily, trying to hide his blush. _(Harry thought he looked refined!)_

After Scorpius was Albus' turn. His robes were of rich dark red colour complimenting his skin tone he'd gotten from Harry and his fiery red Weasley hair that was clearly from his mother. Draco let Harry try to dress up Albus. He did well but not well enough to keep Draco from undoing it all and then dressing up Albus again.

Lastly it was Hestia's turn. She'd had to wait until her hair dried. Given how fast she was growing it was a menace to try and keep it short so Draco had let her grow it to be like Rapunzel's. It was a bit of a task to take care of it. But lately Draco had been letting Harry deal with it with quick small spells, still avoiding any usage of magic himself.

Hestia's robes were more dresslike and both Harry and Draco had to confess that after quickly braiding her hair she did indeed look like a real princess. Her dress was peachy coloured with tiny beads sown into it like pearls. Now Harry understood why Ron was so obsessed with keeping boys away from Rose. Even at such a young age Hestia looked like a little fairy and Harry too felt like he'd be as unreasonable as Ron if any boy were to approach Hestia.

It took Harry a moment to realize that the way he was staring at her might occur a bit creepy to Draco. Embarrassed he quickly turned away and glanced at Draco and at that moment Harry realized that Draco was smiling amusedly at him.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"You were staring at her as if you were going to kill anyone who ever came near her," Draco said, trying to suppress his urge to laugh.

"I wasn't!" Harry protested, feeling the blush creeping up his neck and face.

Draco simply lifted one of his eyebrows challengingly.

"Fine! But how'd you know?"

"I made the same face when Scorpius brought his first boyfriend home for dinner."

"Oh?"

"Yes, but Harry you still haven't told me what's going on."

"Remember when I owled your letter today in the morning?" Harry began.

"Yes," Draco said, now alert, feeling the sudden dread pool in his stomach.

"Well, Narcissa received it and while you were away she sent these robes for all of us and told me that she wants us to be at the manor for dinner tonight."

Draco wanted to punch Harry for accepting the invitation just like that. But barely controlling himself Draco got up.

"Where's the robe she sent for me?"

"I asked Kreacher to leave it in your room," Harry told him, worried at the sight of Draco's face draining of all colour as he stiffly headed for his room leaving the rest of them behind.


	29. Chapter 29

Draco had been locked up in his room for over an hour and the children were getting jittery. Besides Harry couldn't get the sight of all colour leaving Draco's face out of his mind.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he had known that accepting the invitation without consulting Draco first would be a great mistake but he couldn't say no to Narcissa's pleading eyes the moment she had nearly stumbled out of the floo in excitement. The once composed and extremely well behaved woman couldn't give two fucks about manners anymore if it only meant getting to see her only child properly. Not in that quick, confused fashion as she'd happened to meet him in the hospital.

"When are we going to the party?" Scorpius whined again.

The children were tired of waiting to the point where usually silent Scorpius was whining too.

"We can leave as soon as your daddy gets ready," Harry tried to calm the twins while trying to keep Albus from dirtying his robes.

A few more minutes passed when Harry too reached the end of his patience. Just as he was about to get up and go check on Draco, the man himself stomped downstairs. If only the sight of Draco hadn't knocked all the air out of Harry's lungs he would've asked what took Draco so long.

Narcissa had chosen grey silky robes for Draco, complimenting both his eyes and the black tattoo tendrils poking out of the collar. Draco had gelled his hair back the way he used to when they were students, except his hair was still coloured brown, except for the roots. Something that Harry had gotten used to but at such moments couldn't help noticing. Draco's piercings were gone too.

"I'm sorry it took so long. I had to get my hair right," Draco said, avoiding Harry's eyes, "Shall we go then?" He said in an upbeat voice to get the children excited again.

It worked. The twins jumped up in excitement of getting to go to a party in their fancy clothes and their excitement was contagious enough to get Albus excited too. The boy wriggled out of his father's arms and wobbled up to Draco, only to be disappointed since Draco didn't have a third arm to clutch around Albus' arm. Hestia noticing her little friend's disappointment let go of her father's hand and clutched Harry's letting Albus hold Draco's.

Within a few minutes they walked out of the Manor floo. Only Harry, Draco and Albus unfazed by the trip. Meanwhile the twins were spluttering and rubbing their eyes.

"Damn, I should've remembered!" both men exclaimed in unison and knelt down to help the twins, brushing of the powder and wiping their faces. Once done they all were ready to follow the little house elf that had arrived while Draco and Harry were fussing over the children. But Draco halted again. In the hour and half that had passed since the twins had been dressed they'd grown a few more centimeters and the robes were looking tight around them. He knelt down again to fix the strings inside of the robes to loosen the robes a little.

As Draco fixed Hestia's robes Harry copied Draco and fixed Scorpius'.

"You learn fast," Draco mumbled.

"I hardly would've beaten you in quidditch if I didn't," Harry said, attempting to calm down the obviously nervous man.

"Only reason you ever beat me in it was because I didn't take quidditch as seriously as I took rest of my academics," Draco retorted as he got back up and began to follow the house elf.

The tension between his shoulders was still there but at least the frown was gone. Harry just grinned at him indicating that this conversation in no way was over yet, making Draco even smile a little.

They all followed the house elf in silence as it excitedly welcomed them all to the manor. Specially Draco, whom it had only seen in the family photos. The twins' eyes intently locked on the creature even shorter than them. They should've been already used to house elves since Kreacher often came to Harry grumbling about one thing or another. But clearly they weren't. Scorpius even looked like he would've tried to grab to poor thing to poke and prod it if Draco wasn't clasping his hand firmly in his own. Or maybe Scorpius had always wanted to poke and prod Kreacher too but never dared to approach the grumpy elf unlike the very polite and chattery one in front of them.

Harry also noticed that at some point most probably when he was still finishing off fixing the Scorpius' robes Draco had picked up Albus in his arms. No wonder they weren't patiently wobbling at Albus' speed. With the twins growing so fast Harry tended to forget that Albus might be learning new things everyday and pretty fast too but not as fast as the twins.

As if sensing his father was thinking of him Albus whipped his head in Harry's direction and flashed him a big smile.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm crap at handling multiple characters at once. But I hope you guys like this chapter ^_^
> 
> Also as a present since my beta's country turned 100 there's just a teeny tiny little hint about the twins in there but idk how hard to notice I ended up making it even though I wanted to avoid secrecy. I mean I've been toying with you guys a lot already, haven't I. It's about time you got a new piece of information.

Draco had no idea what he'd expected when he'd decided to write the letter to his mother. But he certainly had never imagined he'd end up being so surprised. The whole manor and its atmosphere had changed so much!

As they walked through the hallways Draco noticed that his parents had repainted all the walls with lighter colours, replaced all the gloomy family portraits into lovely paintings of meadows and flowers and cheerful groups of people, and they had also gotten rid of many heirlooms that once had been lined up against the walls of the hallways. The whole manor seemed lighter and it felt like the whole construction had been finally allowed to breathe.

They were finally brought to the sitting room where his parents were expecting them. As soon as they entered the room Draco noticed how Narcissa was expectantly standing and staring at the doorway as if she'd jumped out of her seat the moment she'd heard the distant chatter of the house elf. Lucius on the other hand stood awkwardly between a divan and a bookshelf as if he'd been nervously pacing the room while waiting for them. They looked like deers caught in headlights.

However the same could be said about Draco and his children. Whereas Albus was somewhat used to seeing Narcissa and let it be known by the tiny happy squeal of recognition. Harry too greeted both of the older Malfoys. But all Draco managed was a tiny "Good evening mother, father," while the twins hid behind the adults.

First thing that Draco's brains registered was the yelp Albus let out. The boy was still in his arms squeezed between him and his sobbing mother.

"Draco! My child" Narcissa hugged him tight, making Scorpius whimper too as he hold of his father's robes, "I've missed you so much! I searched for you everywhere. In Hogwarts, in the entire Wizarding London. We even had Harry look for you."

Draco stood stunned, not sure what he should do. He instinctively felt like wrapping his arms around his mother. It broke his heart to see his mother like that. He'd never meant things to turn out like this. However both of his hands were occupied with both the boys.

Harry too was a little stunned. He felt like he'd just stumbled upon someone getting changed. It felt wrong to be a part of such a raw and pure moment. Luckily Lucius intercepted.

"Narcissa, be careful. He is holding Albus."

Lucius walked up to his son and wife and gently pulled Narcissa away from Draco. Although the embrace had come out of the blue, Draco couldn't help the naked feeling the moment Narcissa let go of him. He wanted to hold onto her for a little longer.

Seeing Narcissa's tears made Albus cry too. While Lucius made Narcissa sit down and calm Harry took Albus from Draco's arms leaving him even more stripped and alone. Draco kept his cool and stood by the door hoping he wasn't looking as awkward and suddenly so lonely as he felt.

Finally Lucius turned to him, "Welcome back home, son. Take a seat. You too Harry take a seat."

They all shuffled around, a pregnant silence settling over them. Lucius and Narcissa took the divan. Harry sat down on the armchair with Albus and Hestia joined her father and brother on the rich black coloured couch that went well with the green theme of the room.

"Could you bring the cookies I baked today. Bring some tea and juice for the children too," Lucius finally told the house elf, who had been standing by the door all this time, still waiting for his next order. Meanwhile Lucius dug out his handkerchief for Narcissa to use.

At this point Draco snapped out of the daze. _Cookies I baked today_. Since when had the great Lucius Malfoy baked cookies instead of plans to purify the Wizarding world?

Noticing the incredulous look on her son's face Narcissa smiled a little through her tears, "He had to bake for a charity event and ended up finding a new hobby.

"Oh right! It was the charity event for the children orphaned in the war," Harry mused, "I remember the cookies."

"Not the best thing, but I have improved since," Lucius said in his heavy voice.

"I know, Narcissa has given us tins upon tins of your cookies. Albus loves them. And what about your crocheting club Narcissa?" Harry asked, trying to lighten up the situation a little. The heavy silence was gone but the incredulous look on Draco's wasn't.

To be honest Draco found the thought of his father baking and his mother crocheting more unbelievable than the fact that he had once served a raging psychopath, nearly gotten killed by another psychopath and was still somewhat on a run from him, and his children were going through some Alice in Wonderland-esque changes.

The elf came in holding a tray of tea, juice and cookies. Lucius dismissed the elf and began to pour tea into the cups. He handed the first cup to Narcissa, the second one he made for Harry to give the poor man something to focus on. The third one he poured for himself and on the fourth one he looked up at his son only to see him staring back in that same wary way he used to look at everything the day Lucius had allowed the dark lord to enter the manor.

"Do you still take eight spoons of sugar with your tea Draco?" He asked nonchalantly.

"I? Uh, no I don't," Draco managed to croak. Over the years he'd switched over to fresh juice but on the occasions when he did drink team he still took four spoons of sugar. But somehow it felt stupid to explain such things to his father. Specially since he hadn't even seen him for longer than his mother. "Two spoons, please."

Lucius raised an eyebrow in a similar way that Draco did when Harry said something utterly stupid. It didn't take much math though. Draco was a near copy of his father just like Scorpius was of Draco. However, in Harry's eyes Scorpius' resemblance with his father was way too uncanny.

Without a question Lucius stirred the teas and handed it over to Draco. Then he turned to the children, "Do you want some juice? Or perhaps you'd like to try some cookies grandfather made for you?" He asked with a smile that clearly was natural, but in Draco's eyes it seemed out of place. Lucius Malfoy did not smile. But then again he did not bake either, yet both Scorpius and Hestia had pressed their faces into their father's robes.

The twins were by no means shy, well, Scorpius was a little. But they were more reserved than anything. And Narcissa's teary reunion with her son had made them as wary as their father.

"It's fine," Draco said soothingly, not wanting his children to seem impolite. When the twins still refused he turned to his father and put on the smile reserved for unknown muggles, "They're just a little shy, they're warm up soon though."

Something in the mundane and somewhat stupid sentence used by all the parents of prepubescent children made Draco feel comfortable. It was easy. Far from unexpected and surprising. It was something Draco had done back in the beginning of his fatherhood way many more times than he could care to count. Reunions were something he'd never done.

"Just like you when you were young," Lucius said, "How old are they right now?"

"They should be about seven and half."

At this Narcissa, who'd stopped sobbing by now, seemed to regain her sense of surroundings. "So old already?" She asked in a desolate voice, "I was hoping I'd get to be part of their childhood at least now."

Her voice hadn't been accusatory. She just seemed upset that Draco never gave her the right to be part of his life, specially, despite knowing how many dreams she had for him. After the war the brief amount of time he'd gotten with her, she'd always tell him how she couldn't wait for Draco settle down after his studies so they could bring new joy into the manor. Yet still Draco felt like he was being accused for stealing and crushing his mother's greatest dream.

"There hasn't been much to enjoy in their growing. It's just a constant pain of changing clothes, which they don't want to wear anyway," Draco chuckled awkwardly.

"I knew it," Narcissa smiled, "You weren't taking proper care of them on your own. That's why I custom ordered those robes for you too. Oh dear, the monstrosity you were wearing that day." She said referring to the clothes Draco had been wearing the day he'd rushed to St. Mungos.

Draco blushed in embarrassment. What Narcissa said was true but she didn't need to make such remarks in front of Harry! "Thank you for the robes. They are wonderful," he said.

"You don't need to thank me. Anything for my grandchildren."

"No, but seriously, thank you, Narcissa. You didn't need to get any robes for us," Harry said.

"Of course, I did. Albus is like my own grandchild too," she assured. Right then she seemed to notice that her husband's hospitality skills still needed some polishing. "Oh dear, none of you have taken anything. Do take some cookies!"

She put her cup down to take up the plate of cookies and thrusts it towards everyone. Harry and Albus gladly took one, knowing quite well how surprisingly good Lucius was at baking. Draco too took a cookie tentatively, eager to try the delicious looking things his father had baked. But the twins required a little bit more coaxing.

"Won't you take a cookie grandfather specially made for you?" She tried to coax the reluctant twins.

"It's fine," Draco told the twins. Scorpius kept clutching to him, but Hestia looked up at her father, and upon getting an approving nod reached out for one.

"Thank you," she said meekly in her tiny voice.

"Oh, it's nothing," Narcissa said with a satisfied smile as if she'd just won a prize, "And what is your name, sweetheart?"

"Hestia," the little girl answered, though the cookie she'd began to crunch.

"Hes- what? I couldn't hear you dear."

"Hestia," Hestia repeated in a louder voice, "And he's Scorpius." She revealed her brother's name too, earning a glare from her brother.

"Oh, such lovely names!" Narcissa exclaimed, "You chose them Draco or—?" She trailed off.

"I chose Hestia's name, Vesta chose Scorpius' name," Draco answered, taking the cup away from his lips, the little bit of protection he had between him and his parents' intent stares.

"That's lovely," Narcissa said. "I'm Narcissa, your grandmother, and this is your grandfather Lucius." She introduced herself and her husband to the twins. Mostly Hestia as Scorpius was still glaring at everyone from within the folds of his father's robes.

Hestia turned to her father and whispered something through the mouthful she had been chewing before Narcissa introduced herself.

Draco squirmed at the crumbs flying over his face, luckily Lucius had noticed and handed him a napkin. Draco took it, avoiding any kind of skin contact with his father. As he wiped his face he agreed with whatever Hestia had whispered.

"Yes, Hessie. But you seem to have forgotten what mommy taught. No speaking when you have your mouth full."

Hestia nodded while frowning at her father as if he'd said something right but very wrong as well and went back to munching her cookie.

"Yes, what?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"Our -- are -- -- yours." Scorpius finally spoke up, having the same thought that had crossed Hestia's mind cross his too.

"I can't hear you, love," Narcissa tried to encourage the boy to interact with them better.

Scorpius just shook his head and dug back against Draco's side. If Draco hadn't been nervous he would've found the situation very uncomfortable.

Narcissa turned to Draco a questioning expression on her face.

"He said that they're second middle names are similar to yours," Draco interpreted Scorpius' mumbling to his parents.

"What are their second middle names?" Harry asked, his curiosity spiking up. Baby names were one of his guilty pleasures he'd picked up when trying to search for a name for Albus. Knowing the names of other people's children was a surprisingly fun activity.

"Lucia and Narcissus," Draco said, feeling suddenly relieved that he didn't have to talk to his mother. However, the relief was short lived as then his father spoke up.

"What are their full names?" He asked, making Draco's face drain of all colour.

If Draco could he would've avoided the answer. But in his nervousness he'd let it slip that the twins were talking about their second names that they tended to use among themselves a lot more than their first names. Unfortunately, for him, there was no way he could avoid answering without making a fool of himself or making the situation take a turn for worse.

"Hestia Jamie Lucia Malfoy, and Scorpius Lewis Narcissus Malfoy," he answered curtly.

Everyone in the room seemed to react positively to the name choices, even Harry. Though not in the positive way Draco had feared. Not that he'd really expected Harry to react positively. Lucky him that Harry was as clueless as he'd been back in Hogwarts.

"The names don't flow smoothly but they have a nice ring to them," Draco said sheepishly. But by then the conversation had shifted. Narcissa and Harry were talking about how lovely it was of Draco to name the children after their grandparents. Lucius chimed in explaining what each name meant. Draco and the children were spared the spotlight momentarily, allowing Draco some room to breathe and gather himself again.

Once the chatter over the names died down, Narcissa slowly began to interrogate Draco about other things regarding the twins. Things Draco was happier to talk about, like how they'd actually turned eighteen a while back and were ready to pursue their hobbies as their future careers. He began to ease the more he told about Hestia's entrance exam essay about the importance of folklore, or Scorpius' stipend he won in the photography contest.

It was also a good thing that no matter what his parents still were proper mannered wizards thus after the initial outcry they calmed down and toned down their interrogation. Draco could technically confess to everything he'd felt guilty for keeping away from his parents yet he didn't have to get into the details. He told his parents how Vesta had passed away in an accident and about his job at a local school.

At that point Lucius interrupted asking how he could get a job at a school with the tattoos. The older Malfoys hadn't gotten as much of a view as Harry had but tendrils around his neck made it obvious that there was more than met to the eyes. This was the part Draco loved telling the most. He began to explain very animatedly how the modern school worked.

The way Draco talked about the school had all the adults captivated while the children, left unattended, made a wreck of the cookies. If only Harry hadn't been so immersed in Draco's storytelling he would've realized as a teacher what a load of bullshit Draco was spewing. Not that some of the details didn't bother him. But Harry couldn't question it much either. He hadn't been on the muggle side in years. If years could change a blonde, alabaster skinned packet of venom into a hipster dad, then surely the years could've brought new changes into the school system too.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wohoo another chapter! Don't worry I'm not going down that same rabbit hole again. We just had an extra day off today and my iPad keyboard was working for once. So yeah this happened. Hope you guys like it ^_^

In her excitement to see her son Narcissa had entirely forgotten about her crocheting club. When a house elf came to inform her of all the ladies waiting for her Narcissa left with profuse apologies. She was genuinely upset that she had to get up and inform the other witches that today there won't be any crocheting. It seemed like after getting her son back she couldn't bare to let him out of her sight for even five minutes.

Harry being familiar with the crocheting club too, by now not much of a surprise to Draco anymore, offered to join Narcissa so he could help her explain the situation. Narcissa gladly accepted the offer and they left, Harry taking Albus with him and seeing their little friend leave the twins trailed after Harry too, leaving Lucius and Draco alone.

The awkward silence from earlier was about the settle on them again when Lucius spoke up.

"Your mother got extremely ill. Bedridden. In fact if it hadn't been for her continuously deteriorating health I would've still been rotting in Azkaban."

The room suddenly felt hot, or was it the clothing. He hadn't worn such packed clothing in years. "I— I know. Pansy and Blaise, and well, pretty much everyone told me. I'm sorry," Draco looked away.

"Apologizing to me wouldn't change anything, you should apologize to your mother. Of course, I am thankful for this second chance I got, but at what cost? Narcissa nearly lost her life, we lost our son, we lost years of our grandchildren's lives. I would take rotting in Azkaban over this anytime."

"I truly am sorry," Draco croaked. The room was just getting hotter and the collar around his neck tighter.

"Son, I am not blaming you of anything. Stop saying that. I just want to know why. I understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me, perhaps you even left your mother because of the results of my actions. Returning here was hard for me too. This place had become hideous. All I want to know is why you cut yourself away from us completely. Not a single letter, not a single visit. We couldn't find you anywhere. The aurors searching for you couldn't even find the traces of your magic. We thought you were dead."

A tired shadow fell over Lucius' features. He was well aware that no matter how many tins of cookies he made he'd never be able to redeem himself. Specially in his son's eyes. Yes, he had tortured many poor souls, but they had seen it coming. However Draco hadn't. Lucius hadn't only tortured his poor son by making him choose between everything good and sane, and his father and the insane man Lucius was ready to follow to death. He had tricked and betrayed his son, crushed all his dreams, hopes and opportunities. And then left him unprotected.

But wasn't Draco's punishment too harsh? Lucius could've tolerated the hatred and spite he so well deserved, but he couldn't tolerate the idea that his son was lying in a ditch, bleeding slowly, suffering the consequences of his deeds.

Dear Merlin! All those theories of Draco's whereabouts. They hadn't always been so light hearted. In the beginning they had been ominous, threatening. As if everyone sending their theories to the newspapers had personally killed Draco and then sent the report of their actions in the form of a theory to scare the life out of him and Narcissa.

"I left because I was too ashamed of coming clean about Vesta. I was a coward," Draco said, his eyes on his laps, hands clasped together, his already white knuckles even whiter.

Lucius nodded. He knew that phrases like "you could've tried" or " we would've never" were empty assurances. Lucius wasn't even there. Narcissa might've accepted the muggle or not. However the biggest backlash would've come from the general public and nobody would've been able to protect his son, daughter-in-law or grandchildren from those blood thirsty wizards and witches set upon revenge.

Even now years later that everyone was slowly healing and forgetting, people were still iffy about it. Draco stayed locked up under the protection of the golden boy of the Wizarding world. He had no idea of the things being written about him, said about him. And as far as Pansy had told Lucius, Harry too, ever since Draco had arrived had been more busy spending time with them than keeping up with life around him. However, there was one thing Lucius knew he could tell his son and it wouldn't be an empty assurance. It wouldn't be a lie. It was something Lucius had come to realize after all these years, something he'd finally learnt.

"You weren't a coward. You were only looking out for all those that mattered to you. That you loved. It wasn't an act of fear, it was an act of love and care, that I could never perform," Lucius said.

Draco finally looked up at his father, surprise clear in his eyes. Lucius answered to his stare with his own stare that said he wasn't lying. He wasn't joking or tricking Draco. He genuinely meant it. Sure, he was upset about what happened to Narcissa but if traced back to the origin then it was Lucius' fault not Draco's. In fact somewhere in his heart Lucius admired his son's courage to leave everything for the people he loved.

The stern yet warm stare resulted in Draco breaking into his first genuine smile in front of his father. How long had it been since Lucius had seen that smile on his face? A memory of Draco as a little child flashed through his mind. Unfortunately, Lucius couldn't quite grasp to the memory, but it didn't matter. The smile he got now mattered. It was just a small one, that only lasted as long as a flicker. But it meant a lot to both father and son. They both had gotten heavy boulders off of their shoulders.

When Narcissa and Harry returned to the sitting room, they both could feel the change in the air. Narcissa had no idea what had happened in the few moments she'd been away but the creases that had once crossed her husband's forehead were gone, and Narcissa really hoped they were gone for good. Harry too, couldn't tell what had happened while he was away, but the tension from Draco's shoulders was gone and he was glad about it. It was about time.

"I beg your pardon for the interruption!" Narcissa huffed as she and Harry took their seats again, "The crocheting club is insisting on having today's session, since the summer festivities are going on. We were supposed to make some summer related mascots for the souvenir shop of Luna and Neville's botanical garden."

 _Of course, they had ended up with a garden,_ Draco thought. Perhaps once everything was over he'd visit it before leaving for good. He owed that much to Neville and Luna for all their kindness during eighth year.

They were the first ones to treat Draco like a human being. Well, Neville was a bit jumpy, but it was far better than the initial avoidance from Pansy and Blaise. Those two warmed up next and the last ones to warm up to him were Harry and his best friends. It did earn him a little bit of safety but he never was completely accepted by rest of the school. Not that it ever mattered anyway. Besides afterwards he had to leave anyway. Wouldn't have been much sense in making friends only to leave them behind. The few ones he did leave behind were already giving him a hard time.

"It's not a problem, mother. We should take our leave now too. I don't think there's much more room for the twins in those clothes anymore," Draco pointed out.

The twins who were by now more relaxed, even a bit chattery, hadn't noticed it themselves, being busy stuffing their faces with the cookies. But the clothes were getting tight around their body and they subconsciously kept pulling at the hems and the sleeves in discomfort.

She understood but it was still hard to let them go. She had waited for her son for almost twenty years! Even though everyone else kept telling her it was useless she never let go of her wish to see her son even if it meant catching a glimpse of him when passing by her.

"I see," she muttered, her eyes cast down. Luckily Lucius came to her aid. He might have messed up everything over and over again and lost everything he had,he refused to let go of his family. If his son, his blood could do anything for his loved ones then so could Lucius. He didn't do much but it was still a step towards a happier future.

"Do come to visit us again soon," he said to Draco, in a rather questioning voice.

As much as Draco wanted, genuinely wanted, to come and visit his family again, he knew he shouldn't. "We will try to, won't we?" He turned to the twins, who nodded half heartedly.

"No, you must promise us. No, in fact, you should come over on the coming weekend!" Narcissa chimed in excitedly.

"Indeed, you should come over the weekend. There are so many things I want to show to the children. It's not just the interior that we changed drastically. The manor grounds and even your old nursery and playing room. I renovated them all," Lucius said, hoping his sales pitch would convince Draco.

"I would love to, but Hermione comes for the weekly check ups then," Draco resisted.

"Hermione can come here, she's been here earlier too," Harry helped the older Malfoys to convince Draco, earning a quick glare from him.

"Indeed! Younger mrs. Weasley can come here for the check ups. Narcissa shall send her a letter," Lucius clutche to Harry's idea.

"Of course! I'll owl her as soon as I can," Narcissa agreed.

With a sigh Draco gave in, "Fine, I'll try to arrange things too, so that I don't have to deal with any work on weekend."

It earned him two very wide smiles from his parents. And an even wider smile from Harry. Meanwhile Albus sucked to his cookie, and both Hestia and Scorpius took a cookie in each hand since they didn't have pockets to stuff more into them.

\----- ----- -----

That night after the tired twins had wiggled out of their tight robes, fooled around with their dinner since they were already full, dressed into their father's t-shirts (the only thing they agreed to wear anymore), and fallen asleep, Draco was relaxing in the living room.

He had taken a book from Harry's bookshelves. It was a magnificent pop up book about dragons.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" Harry said, as he wiggled into the space Draco made for him by pulling his legs closer to his chest.

"Yeah, it is. I really love the illustrations," Draco hummed, completely immersed into the book.

"Everyone does, I really loved the ones depicting the story of the prince who falls in love with the weredragon in the end," Harry said.

Draco shuffled through the pages to find the story Harry mentioned. Indeed, the illustrations in that one were truly breathtaking. And the little magical effects made it even better. He quickly skimmed through the story.

"The illustrations and the pop ups are breathtaking, but I don't really like the story much. I prefer the story about the little dragons building a city into the skeletal remains of the big bad dragon."

"That's a nice one too," Harry agreed. "I'm sorry about today," he added then.

The apology came out of the blue. Draco hadn't quite expected it, besides by now he didn't really care much either. After all, this far only good had come out of everything Harry had done. The poor man really was trying to make up for the results of his unwanted visit.

"It's okay. Actually, I even wanted to thank you for today. I don't think without your push I would've ever dared to even meet mother. I haven't apologized to her face to face, only in the letter. But I'm really hoping I can do it when we go back to the manor for the weekend."

Harry looked at him, relief washing over his features. He'd expected a tantrum from Draco. "So you're not angry?"

Draco sighed and out the book away, "Of course, I am. You dunce. I would've punched you to the ground if I could. But you're just trying to help me out, even if it's in ways that I'd prefer you didn't implement."

Harry flushed in embarrassment, "I really am sorry," he said again.

"And I said it's fine." Draco smiled at the blushing and squirming sight of Harry. He felt the same thrill as he used to feel in Hogwarts. Getting under Harry's skin was something that he still apparently couldn't help enjoying. "But if you actually feel that remorseful I think we should come up with a way for you to repent," he said challengingly.

And seeing the playfulness in Draco's eyes, Harry accepted it with the same stubbornness that he used to when they were young, "Anything, Malfoy." 

Draco hadn't expected Harry to actually agree to it, so it took him a moment to come up with something. Finally he came up with the perfect way, "Soccer, out, now.

Draco shot up from the couch silently heading for Albus' room where he'd seen a ball. When he tiptoes back from the room clutching the ball in his arms he saw Harry still sitting on the couch.

"Move it, Potter!" He playfully jabbed at Harry who was sulking.

"Let's at least play quidditch. I don't know all the soccer rules," he huffed in annoyance.

"I don't have a broom, Potty. Now get up you big sore loser," Draco said, and sprinted towards the door to the backyard with light steps.

"Oh no, don't you dare incite me, Ferret," Harry went after Draco, while still remaining as silent as he could.

Luckily the night air of summer was warm. The men had sprinted out in completely inappropriate clothing. Harry had his thin pyjamas on while Draco was wearing a black undershirt and black shorts. They played soccer for a while. Draco explaining the rules to Harry as he went on making mistakes, and Harry sulking each time like a big baby amusing Draco to no end. Eventually they both were sweaty, tired and Draco had his share of fun.

With a big yawn he dropped down on the grass. Harry followed his lead but instead of laying he sat his legs folded next to the laying man.

"Merlin! I've had enough of repenting. I swear you're up for trouble, Malfoy," Harry huffed, while trying to catch his breath.

"Oh really? Am I now?" Draco said with a smug smile. He'd won the game 7-3, the perk of having to entertain two overly active children even when they were old enough to have their own children.

"Oh yes, you are!" Harry glared back at him. It was unfair. It had been years since he'd had any sort of work out. Besides he had quidditch in his blood, not soccer. He turned to face the other direction, making Draco burst out in laughter.

"Come on, this was just a friendly match!" Draco wheezed through his laughter.

When Harry wouldn't turn around Draco, in a moment of utter elated stupidity, sat up only to poke his finger on Harry's sides and began to tickle him. But the brunette man immediately shot away from him, covering his body. His face red in embarrassment. Draco felt the playfulness in the air disappear. It took him a moment to remember.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to make you conscious of your body," Draco said apologetically.

They both sat in silence, when Harry spoke up, "It's not your fault. I just can't help it."

Draco seemed to think something. "Take you shirt off," he demanded.

"Draco, I just told you I don't—"

"Just do it, Potter!" Draco hissed.

Reluctantly Harry unbuttoned his shirt revealing his pudgy body in all of its sweaty glory.

"Hmm, sit straight, Potter. I'm not going to judge you for your body."

"That still means that you're going to judge me for something," Harry hissed back.

"Yes. That bull like stubbornness of yours."

Harry sat straight uncomfortably under Draco's scrutinizing gaze and due to the sweat drying on his skin and making him feel cold despite the summer warmth.

At first Draco was taken aback by the huge change in Harry's physique. He hadn't only gotten pudgy but there had been a change to his body. Harry had lost the scrawniness of a boy, even if he did lose weight, he'd never gain the old sad excuse of a six pack he'd had when he was younger. Now he'd look like one of those tanned models from fancy clothing brand advertisements. For some reason the thought of it made Draco self conscious of himself even though it was Harry going through a rather humiliating moment.

The second thing that left him taken aback were the numerous scars on his body. Back then he'd thought over the years they'd fade completely away, but the scars were still there. Faded, but still there.

"Are you done, Malfoy?" Harry said, short of snapping completely.

"Uh, yeah," Draco rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"And?"

"If you worked out now, you'd look much better than you looked back in eighth year," Draco told him sheepishly.

"I had a six pack back then!" Harry retorted.

"Sad excuse of a six pack. You were a scrawny, starved teenager. A kid on the run from a psycho murderer. All the running might've given you strong legs but you were hardly doing crunches."

"I played quidditch! Continuously beat you at it!"

"Still not crunches, Potter," Draco said in a singsong voice. The previous grin returning to his face.

"As if you were any better yourself, Malfoy," Harry defended himself.

"I was way better than you," Draco snickered, "I still am," he winked too. _Of course, he was. Being a snobby elite, and then being bloated like a ship and popping vitamins was way better than being a scrawny kid continuously at the edge of death._

"As if. I want proof," Harry nagged.

"Tut tut tut, Potty, you have to get a six pack to unlock mine," Draco said leaning in closer to Harry, making Harry's heart skip a beat, the playful grin still in its place, "Once you've gotten yourself a six pack I'll show you my eight pack."

"Is it just me or are you trying to trick me so you can get an actually get that rumored eight pack?" Harry said, leaning in too, proud of his comeback that perfectly hid the fact that he was feeling flustered at the lack of distance.

"Oh, you caught me. Yes, I'm tricking you so I can buy myself some time to turn my six pack into an eight pack," Draco said. To add to the tiny surprise he bumped his forehead into Harry's and before the latter could do anything he quickly stood up. "Now get up, Potter. The challenge starts tomorrow. You can choose your own work out, just leave Albus to me. I'm sure me and the twins can handle Albus for a while," he instructed Harry as he extended his hand for Harry to hold and get up. 

Which Harry gladly took. Playing so intensely after such a long time had left his muscles sore. However, it was a mistake. The grimace made Draco be more of a prick than he was already being.

"Scared Potter?"

With a determined glare Harry accepted the challenge, "You wish."

Slightly leaning into Draco, they made their way back in, nagging with each other in whispers.

Later at night, after a cold shower and change of clothes Harry was laying in his bed unable to sleep. Thank goodness for once Albus was sleeping in his nursery, otherwise, Harry's inability to sleep would've woken him up too.

As sudden as Draco's sudden playfulness had been, it had infected Harry as well. He was surprised to realize that he'd missed this. He'd missed it so much. Funny how he missed stupid things. He missed Hogwarts even though all the traumatic events there, thus accepting the job when Professor McGonagall offered it. He missed environments crowded with people he knew, thus his love for the events at the Burrow or little get together with his friends. Unknowingly he had also missed Draco and the continuous fights with him too.

Their earlier near fighting had left Harry in new spirit. He found himself staring at the ceiling, actually deciding on finding his gym membership card he'd gotten ages ago. He really wanted to do this. For some reason it felt important that he'd best Draco at the challenge. The moment Draco would take his shirt off he'd realize he'd lost. And Harry would finally get to see where the tendrils came from.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look I know this was supposed to be a story about Harry but I'm having too much fun making the twins cry. But I swear I will get back to Harry and his unfortunate falling out with Ginny. Also I'll learn to write my romance properly, I swear. Cause our peeps really need to get on with it. Even I'm done with this weird circling. But hey till then enjoy the tiny tid bit about Draco's past.

Saturday evening rolled around and Draco was standing in front of the restored gazebo in the manor garden. The children were enthralled by the white peacocks and Lucius had taken them closer to show one of the more docile ones. Narcissa was inside giving the house elves instructions for whatever fancy dinner she was preparing.

After their little squabble Harry had actually triumphantly dug out his old gym membership card and showed it off to Draco. He had taken the challenge seriously. Draco just hoped that in his overhyped state he hadn't somehow offended or upset Harry. At least Harry didn't seem so.

While it was good for Harry, the past two days he'd return home tired but radiating, for Draco it was horrible. Not when he was at home. Then everything would be peachy. Three children did get on nerves but as snappy as Draco was, he really loved children. Maybe because he'd been the only child and desperately wished for a sibling, or maybe it was just the years of association with children that had warmed him up to them. Besides Albus wasn't anywhere near as bad as his children had been. In fact, he was far better than they were even now, when ridden by the disease they were only half as bad as they used to be.

It was bad for him at the manor. All alone with his parents. The children weren't exactly the people he could hide behind, or use to get his parents distracted. Although they were doing quite a good job at it. But Draco couldn't feel the same assuring comfort he'd felt when Harry had been with him when they were visiting days prior to the weekend. 

Deep in his thoughts he hadn't noticed when his mother had crept up to him.

"He's done a wonderful job of restoring it," she commented.

His father had indeed done a good job at restoring the gazebo. And with his own hands, not a single worker was hired for it. Although apparently he had cheated a little and used the help of the house elves.

The gazebo had been one of Draco's favourite things as a child. It was a fairly huge metal cage right underneath an even more huge tree. From early spring to early autumn the large branches kept it nicely shadowed under the leaves. When he was a child he used to pretend he was an auror and the gazebo was his hideout from the bad wizards he was trying to catch.

Like many other things in the manor and it's grounds, the gazebo too had suffered at the hands of the dark lord. One vacation it was a beautiful golden gazebo, the other it had turned into a horrible cage, grimy with half dried blood. That day Draco had shed his first tear over his upcoming even worse fate.

Now the gazebo was restored and Lucius had added some details to it making it even nicer. Since it was big he'd been able to attach benches to it. Draco wondered what spells his father had used to do that. There was also a very simple yet elegant birdbath in the middle of it.

Narcissa walked to it, stepped in and sat down on one of the benches. She patted the space next to her asking Draco to sit down. As Draco took a step closer to the gazebo, a memory flashed through his mind making him stop on his tracks.

_It was a grey, rainy day. Not the relaxing type of rainy. The ominously gloomy type. By now Draco had avoided getting out of the manor continuously for weeks. He'd began to hate the vacation. He just wanted back into the safety of the rotating corridors of Hogwarts. However, suddenly a house elf entered his room and informed him that he had been summoned by his father._

To this day Draco hated that moment of pride he'd felt when he was summoned by his father. He'd thought his father must've had finally gotten some free time to check his results for that year and was summoning him to congratulate him.

_"Father?" Draco creaked the door open after knocking it._

_"Oh Draco, you're here. Come in."_

_He nervously stepped in while fumbling with the hem of his shirt. At that moment his pride faltered a little for he was behaving like a child. He berated himself in his thoughts. There was no reason to be nervous, except there was._

_He hadn't noticed it before. The long silhouette at the side of the room._

That had been the first time he'd been given the "opportunity" by the dark lord to watch a poor soul being tortured. Back then he'd convinced himself that the man being tortured and humiliated had deserved it. And then he'd repressed the memory.

Unfortunately, the memory had chosen the worst time ever to resurface. The vivid images of the tortured man turning black and blue from all the magical and physical assaults flashed through his mind. For a minute Draco felt like he was being pulled out of his body.

Next thing he knew was Scorpius pulling him by the hand.

"Daddy?" Scorpius said, in his high pitched voice of a child. Draco felt the tiny, barely noticeable even when they were holding hands, surge of magic.

Draco felt the memory fade again and the first thing he saw was his son's large grey eyes staring back at him. He gulped and with a faltering smile and squeezed his son's hand, assuring him everything was fine now.

"Yes, honey?"

"That man said you had a peacock of your own? Where is it?"

"That man?" Draco asked, still slightly confused of his whereabouts. His whole mind settling only and only on Scorpius.

"That white haired man," Scorpius pointed at Lucius.

"He's not 'that man', love. He's your grandpa," Draco corrected.

Scorpius frowned. Draco couldn't tell whether it was because he'd recovered unusually fast or whether because he regained memories a child should never have to have in the first place but didn't remember what grandpa meant.

"Is that why his name is almost the same with Hessie's?"

"Yes. And that's also why your name is almost the same as grandma's," Draco said. To emphasize his point Draco said his mother's name and Scorpius' middle name, one after the other, a few times.

With a serious frown Scorpius nodded. Then he turned to Narcissa, before whom he'd noticed his father's distress. She was still waiting for Draco in the gazebo. A small smile on her face. She was adoringly watching what she thought was a basic interaction between a son and a father.

"Nice to meet you gran," he said to his grandmother.

Hestia who had been gotten distracted, leaving only Albus as Lucius' audience on his lecture, gasped audibly.

"Is she gran?!" The little girl sprinted to her father the best she could in her new robes.

Draco was amused by both his children's reactions. All these years only thing they knew about their grandparents was their names and that Draco would rather not talk about their grandparents. None of them. And it was the same with Vesta's parents. And after bumping into her parents once, the children had themselves decided that it didn't matter much whether they had grandparents or any other relatives or not, as their maternal grandparents hadn't really appreciated their tattooed father dragging them along with him to the piercing parlor to get his ears pierced.

"Yes, sweetheart. The man over there is my father and your grandpa. And the lady sitting there is my mother, your gran."

As soon as the words had left Draco's mouth Hestia ran up to Lucius and surprised him by hugging him tight.

"Gramps! Nice to meet you!" Then she ran to Narcissa and did the same to her, albeit a little more awkwardly because she was sitting, "Nice to meet you Gran!"

All three adults were amused by the sudden excitement. Following his sister Scorpius too walked up to his grandparents, although he was far more calm. He shyly extended his hand for a handshake, with both of them.

Even Albus didn't go untouched by the sudden excitement. He let out a happy squeal and started squirming in Lucius' arms.

To be honest the scene unfurling in front of him was rather unbelievable, yet somehow heartwarming too. Draco couldn't help wondering would it have been indeed better if he'd approached his mother for help all those years ago, instead of holding Vesta's hand like a lovebird while they were hiding in the crowded café pretending to be yet another new couple.

Draco pushed the thought away and after taking a deep breath he shakily joined his mother in the gazebo. Soon his father joined them too.

Looking at his parents being so happy reminded him of the day Vesta had dragged them to the fair. It reminded him that there was no use in wondering how things would've turned out if he'd done the right thing. Specially when he didn't regret how they'd turned out when he made the last wrong decision of his life. It had given him those few years with his wife, a life he could've never imagined living and two wonderful children. Every unfortunate thing that did come his way since then was not a result of his decisions. He'd led a happy life since then and once this would be over he'd lead a happy life again.

He returned to reality just in time to see his matchmaker of a daughter ruin his life yet again, as if all those muggle dates that she somehow convinced him into hadn't been enough of embarrassment already. Then again he couldn't blame her for not remembering all the twenty seven fiascos she and her brother had gotten their father into since Vesta passed away.

"Gran?"

"Yes, darling?" Narcissa cooed to her granddaughter. Draco noted how being addressed as grandparents had suddenly turned both his parents into giant saps.

"If you are daddy's mommy, then are you more adult than him?" Hestia asked.

"Why, of course," Narcissa giggled at her silly question.

"Then can you tell daddy to stop being angry to papa?"

_"What the fuck?!"_ was the first thought on Draco's mind. And judging by the expressions on his parents' faces their thoughts were running along the same lines.

"Stop being angry to who?" Narcissa asked not exactly sure who Hestia was talking about.

"Papa," she answered matter of factly, as if everyone knew who she was talking about.

"Yeah, Albus doesn't like it either," Scorpius chirped in.

"He doesn't?" Draco asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, he said, that when me and Hessie are playing or napping you and papa don't talk to each other at all. You just talk in front of us. And you always talk more when aunt Pansy is around, or uncle Blaise," Scorpius told him.

"Jake does that when we have a fight. He pretends to talk to me cause he doesn't want his mom to get mad at him. But when she goes away he plays only with Scorp." Hestia said, accusingly. Her attention now shifted from her father's love life to her own. She glared at her brother.

"He does not!" Scorpius retorted.

"He does too!" 

"He does not!

"Yes, he does!"

The twins hadn't given the adults even a moment to process the earlier question before leaping into a fight. Their screaming made Albus burst into tears. Scorpius being more attached to Albus immediately leaped up from the bench and stomped to his sister.

"Look what you did! You made Albus cry!"

"I did not!" Hestia screamed back, "You did. You were next to him."

"You did," Scorpius said, pushing his sister hard enough to make her hit against the bars of the gazebo. It wasn't hard enough to hurt her but the suddenness made her cry.

As normal as it was for the twins to brawl, Draco didn't really want to see the fight unfurl in all of its ugly glory right in front of his parents.

"Stop it, you too," He pulled Scorpius away from Hestia, who was crying extremely loudly now.

Draco could see the agony in his mother's face who had never had to deal with such unruly children.

"Hestia, stop crying. Come here," Draco helpfully extended his other hand to pull Hestia away from his mother. As soon as she saw her father reaching for her, she reached for him too, completely ignoring her newfound grandmother. Narcissa didn't mind it. The loud shrills of a crying child weren't the type of thing she could take at this age, or ever to be honest.

"Scorpius say sorry to your sister," Draco said to his son as sternly as he could. It was hard to be stern and gentle at the same time, as he still needed to calm down his daugther who's cries were slowly morphing into loud sobs.

"No, she started!"

"Yes, Scorpius. And she will say sorry too. She had no right to glare at you. But you started the fight. Now remember what mommy said about hitting peo—"

Draco got cut off as Hestia suddenly screamed out loud making everyone jump out of their skins. As if on queue, Scorpius clutched his head and began to cry too. The domino effect continued to Albus who began to cry too. To make the matters worse the memory from earlier returned. Even though Draco wasn't standing at the same point thus didn't have the same view of the gazebo, he still began to feel sick.

His vision clouded, he felt as if the gazebo was closing in on him and no matter how hard he tried to keep his breathing even he felt it quicken. The blood had drained from his face and he could hear his parents' voices. He couldn't tell what they were saying. They were telling him to look at something. Look at what? The man? Draco didn't want to look at him. That man had done nothing wrong. He tried to beg them to stop but he couldn't utter a single syllable.

\----- ----- -----

The moment he felt his consciousness return he shot up. There was no time for him to feel groggy or register his sore muscles.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Draco said, not really knowing what he did not mean to do. He just knew he'd done something he wasn't supposed to.

"Don't move too much. Mione said you need some rest," a male voice said from his side.

Draco felt a hand on his shoulder gently pushing him back down. It was Harry's. Draco looked around and realized it must've been past noon already and he was back at Grimmauld place.

"How'd I get home? And what about the children?" Draco asked, his panic replaced by worry for the children.

"They're all at the playpark. Pansy and Blaise promised to take care of them today," Harry told him.

"And Albus? I'm so sorry about him. The twins just got out of hands. I had no idea it would happen," Draco began to ramble. He'd been the one to promise Harry that he could take care of the child for the half an hour that Harry spent in the gym. He couldn't even take care of his own children. In fact he couldn't even take care of himself, he'd thought the flashbacks were over years ago. Suddenly he felt so lost. How could thirty fucking minutes go so wrong?

"Hey, shh," Harry had moved to dit next to Draco on the bed, "Albus is safe and he's with the twins. They're all at the playpark."

"No, you shouldn't have let them near him," Draco sobbed and buried his face in his hands.

"And that's crap," Harry snapped at him, "the twins simply had an untimely flashback. It was my fault for not joining you. Your parents had no idea what was going on. They had to call Hermione, who then administrated that potion to them. You know Albus, always copying the twins. The moment his besties stopped crying he stopped too."

Draco looked up at Harry to see the man smile at him. It was the smile Draco had seen Harry use on Weasley so many times. Usually when Weasley was drunk. It was the 'you're utterly stupid but I still care about you' smile. Seeing the smile made Draco calm a little.

"Still, I should've known better than to pass out over two screaming children," he mumbled in embarrassment.

The gesture he thought would make Harry burst out into a laughter or inspire him into making a jabbing comment had the exact opposite effect on Harry. His smile withered away only to be replaced with a frown.

"You didn't pass out over the twins. In fact that's the reason we had to get you back here. Otherwise Narcissa had rooms ready for you at the manor. Remember? I was supposed to join you guys after the gym and we were supposed to stay at the manor for the night?"

"Oh, right! Why am I here then?"

"I don't know. When I got there to pick up the children I saw Narcissa crying. Lucius was trying to calm her down. All Mione told me was that Lucius had asked us to apparate you away from the manor."

"Oh?" Draco couldn't believe his ears. Why would Lucius ask them to get him away from the manor? Not that he was dying to stay there. But being kicked out didn't really sit well with him.

Seeing Draco's sullen face Harry explained, "I did try to ask him what happened but he wouldn't answer. And when I asked your mother she said that this way it's better. Safer for you."

_Safer for you._

Had he rambled something about the memory. Draco knew he had a tendency of sleep talking. But he couldn't have done it when he'd fainted. He'd have to ask his parents about the details later.

"Umm, Draco?" Harry interrupted him from his panicked thoughts.

Draco looked at him waiting for him to continue.

"Hermione did fill me in on the details of the triggers that caused the memory return for the twins"

"And?"

"The triggers," Harry began. He had no idea how to bring this up. Living with his uncle and aunt had given him enough knowledge to know when things were wrong in a family. "I was just wondering. I mean the triggers for the twins—"

"What about them?" Draco asked, confused.

"Well, the first time it was a slamming door. This time it was fighting and then being pushed..." Harry really couldn't bring himself to explain wat he was trying to get at. Lucky for him Draco was smart enough to put the pieces together.

"Oh! Damn! I know what it must look like to you, but I assure you it's nothing like that."

Harry didn't reply, instead he waited for Draco to explain himself.

"The slamming door is from the time I fought with Vesta. It was our first and last fight ever. And being pushed must come from the numerous fights Hessie and Scorp go through all the time."

"Alright," Harry nodded slowly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to let Draco get away with it that easily. But after spending two months with the man Harry doubted Draco was the type to be into domestic violence.

"Yeah," Draco said awkwardly, "I mean only other time Hessie was pushed—"

Then it hit him. It made more sense than a simple fight because the twins had fought several times specially the last one month. It just never bothered him because Harry had no problems with it unlike his parents. 

"Oh no. No, no, no. Harry I need to talk to the twins right now," he tried to push past Harry who stopped him.

"Wait, what happened?"

"Their mother. They've fought before too, fighting wasn't the trigger. It was their mother."

"Fine, I'll call Blaise and Pansy so they can bring the children back. But Hermione said that you're not allowed out of the bed, because you required stronger potions than the twins did."

"But I have to—"

"You have to what?"

"I have to ask them if they remembered the day their mother died," Draco said, slight panic clear in his grey eyes.

"You're not telling me they were there when the accident happened?" Harry asked, concerned for the children too.

"Yes, they were there too when he came," Draco began to scramble again, but Harry held him down.

"Calm down Draco. They're safe and sound. They haven't mentioned anything, but I'll still tell Pansy to bring them here right now. Until then why don't you tell me what happened. I thought your wife died in an accident."

Until the end of his life Draco could never figure out what made him blabber out like that. Perhaps it was the after effect of the potion given to him, or maybe the way Harry had enveloped him into a semi hug without realizing, in his attempt to calm Draco. But at that moment he didn't even realize he was blabbering it all out.

"Vesta pushed the kids into the toy box when the man came," Draco told Harry. This was the version he'd practiced for the muggle aurors, the policemen. By now he'd told this version so many times, it came to him naturally. "The twins were there when he killed her. After her death for a while the twins went to therapy because they had a hard time remembering anything beyond the feeling of being pushed. They couldn't focus to school, heck, they kept spacing out at home and I was having a hard time too."

Harry wanted to ask why Draco had lied earlier and told everyone she'd had an accident. But right now it didn't matter since hardly anyone wanted to tell people their loved one had been murdered. "So you went to therapy?"

Draco, who by now had his head leaning against Harry's chest nodded his head, making his ruffled hair tickle the bottom of Harry's face.

"Yes, the children got better, but this damned disease is giving them a hard time."

"I'm so sorry," Harry leaned his head on top of Draco's. "Was it the reason for your panic attack too?"

"No, for me it was the gazebo," Draco blurted before realizing.

"The gazebo?"

"Just a bad memory from sixth year," Draco said, unwilling to recount the memory again.

Luckily he didn't have to. Harry had seen the state of the manor after the war. And at Draco's mention he realized exactly what Draco meant by the gazebo. He'd seen the dried blood there. In fact he'd seen the dried blood and other signs of torture all around the manor. He'd even offered to restore the mansion but Narcissa had refused. It wasn't until Lucius' return that the couple restored the mansion together without anyone's help.

They both sat on the bed in silence. While Draco just enjoyed the safe feeling of having someone there with him, Harry was lost in his thoughts.

He remembered the nightmares of his mother's death. Being a horcrux himself certainly had its peeves. Harry felt sick only by the distorted dream. He couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible it was for the twins to be old enough to understand what was going on and see their mother killed right in front of their eyes.

He wondered what it was like for Draco. His father hadn't seen his mother die but Draco had returned home to see his children huddled in the toy box and his wife's dead body there.

Not realizing it Harry tightened his grip around Draco a little. It was his attempt to assure the worn out man that everything was fine now. However, their silent moment was interrupted by the sound of the children.

Something must've happened if they'd returned before getting a call from Harry. Draco had heard it too.

"Stay here, I'll go check. And don't worry I'll bring them here," he assured Draco who unwillingly remained in the bed while Harry walked out of he room.


	33. Chapter 33

"Hey! You're back," Harry greeted them.

The children were still in their dragon mode and instead of a normal greeting they ran to Harry while roaring and flapping their arms. Albus too, who was in Blaise's arms because he was too tired from all the running, roared at him.

"Roar!" Harry roared back at all of them with a wide grin, "Seems like you guys had fun."

"Yeah, we did," the twins said in unison.

"Yeah," Albus squealed.

"Aww, that's great!" Harry said, "Why did you come back so soon then?"

"They wanted to tell you how Albus made the dragon plushies float in the air," Blaise explained.

"Hey, I was supposed to tell that!" Scorpius, who was as comfortable with Blaise and Pansy as he was with Draco and Harry, whined.

"I didn't tell him all the details. Why don't you fill him in on the detail?"

"I'd love to listen to you, but Scorp your daddy wants to see you first," Harry said before Scorpius could get started, "And you too Hessie."

The twins nodded and ran upstairs to see their father.

"Aww, no wonder they've adopted you!" Pansy snickered. When Harry turned to look at the Zabini couple he saw they both had the suspicious wolfish expressions that always meant the receiver of those stares was in trouble.

"Adopted me?"

"I just hope Papa takes care of Daddy like Mommy used to," Pansy mimicked Hestia.

"We call him Papa cause Albus calls Daddy papa. So his daddy is our Papa too," Blaise mimicked Scorpius.

Truly, this couple was made in heaven.

"I won't understand if you don't give me some context," Harry said, despite the tiny suspicion in his mind.

"One symptom of Renaissance is ability to actually understand baby gibberish because even though the body ages the mind remains haywire for quite some time. The twins must still be able to understand what Albus says. He has adopted Draco as his Papa, so the twins have accepted you in their flock too," Pansy gave him the context he'd asked for, with a wink.

Harry didn't know what to say. It was surprising, certainly. Albus had adopted Draco? As in he'd accepted Draco as his another father? And apparently the twins had accepted him as their third parent and another father. It made no sense to him.

"And that means?"

"That means, congratulations Mr. Potter, you got twins." Blaise joined his wife in being annoyingly vague.

"I don't get it," Harry frowned.

"Oh, in the name of Morgana's tits!" Pansy huffed, "Children are like ducks. If you had a duck egg and the little duckling hatched out of it only to see you—"

"What does this have to do with ducks?" Harry asked, feeling even more confused.

"Pansy, you're trying too hard. He won't get it until Hermione knocks some sense in him," Blaise chuckled. "By the way have you called Hermione yet. Pansy and I are going to meet my mother, so she can't check up on Draco."

"No, I was going to but then you guys came."

"In that case, you should call Hermione. Draco and the twins have been through a lot today," Blaise said, his smirk melting into a worried glance towards the stairs.

"Yes, I will right now," Harry assured the couple.

Taking Albus from Blaise Harry he bid farewell to him and Pansy.

\----- ----- -----

Later that evening Hermione had managed to send Draco to bed with the twins by threatening to call Pansy. It had sent the tall man back into his room while grumbling about being treated like a child.

With a triumphant smile she was sitting on the couch, waiting for Harry to come back down after putting Albus to sleep.

When Harry came and joined her, the first thing she noticed was the bags under Harry's eyes.

"How are you doing?" She asked her friend.

"I am fine. And you?" Harry chuckled.

"I am fine too. Just a little tired," she confessed. She had had a long week, and the incident at the manor had robbed her off of her only entire day off.

"I'm sorry about it. If I had gone with them I could've dealt with it."

"It's not your fault!" Hermione exclaimed, "He is supposed to take care of his children."

"But—"

"Lately you've been running around with Draco everywhere. Have you had a single moment for yourself?"

"Yes, I have," Harry said, "In fact Draco even looks after Albus so I can go to the gym."

"Oh." Hermione was surprised. She hadn't really had the time to catch up with Harry. "You're shaping up for the coming school year? Charming all the seventh year girls."

Harry couldn't help the grin forming on his face.

"Mione, that's disgusting. I was just bickering with Draco and he ended up challenging me. I'm trying to get in shape to beat that prat."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "And here I thought you both had changed. Clearly not. You can't stop bickering with him and he can't man up in a serious situation."

"Well, clearly not," Harry snickered. "But let me just tell you, whatever happened yesterday didn't have anything to do with Draco being a little pathetic like he used to be," he said earning a sideways glance from Hermione.

"A little pathetic? Are you getting a little biased over your flat mate mr. Harry James Potter?"

"I'm not! I was just saying it wasn't because he's a scaredy cat. It happened because he got a flashback."

"A flashback?"

"He mentioned something about sixth year."

"That explains what Narcissa said," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"You mean what she said about his safety?" Harry asked.

"Yes. He had completely blacked out by the time the house elf had taken me there. But I think he must've said something before it. What did he tell you?"

"Not much. Just what I told you."

Harry wondered if he should tell Hermione about Vesta. Most probably he should, but a part of him told him not to. The moment when Draco had decided to open up to him was very intimate and private. A moment that only belonged to them and Harry wanted to keep it that way. Besides the story was Draco's to tell.

"Earth to Harry?" Hermione waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Don't tell me all this talk made you daydream of your ex archenemy?"

"What? No," Harry shook his head.

"I wouldn't be so sure. You see, apart from the ominous request, Narcissa also told me you are a father of two more children now."

"Will you stop with it? Even Pansy was saying something about ducks and children." Harry huffed, frustrated over his own inability to understand. It happened sometimes. Something extremely obvious would happen but he'd focus on all the wrong things and not understand. He could tell by Hermione's smile that it was happening again.

"It makes sense, you know."

"What makes sense?"

Hermione realized that Harry was having one of those thought lags where he couldn't wrap his head around the simplest things. Her best friend could sometimes be oblivious just like that.

"Well, think of Charlie's dragons," she started.

"Okay?"

"The new dragons that just hatch. How do they treat Charlie?"

"They consider him their mother," Harry said, not really getting where the conversation was going. He'd seen Charlie working with the dragons. Charlie had told him about the little ones considering the first person they saw as their mother. Now that he thought about it, ducks did that too, didn't they?

Hermione could see him putting the pieces slowly together. And a few moment or two later the realization dawned on him.

"After they began to grow, apart from Draco the twins saw me constantly," Harry said, his mouth forming a ludicrous 'o'.

"Exactly, and because of their attachment to Albus they began to consider you their other father just like Albus considers Draco his other father."

"Wait. No, he doesn't." Harry frowned.

"Yes, he does. Narcissa recounted the moment before the incident in detail. She said that the twins told her that Albus calls him Papa."

"They understand what Albus says?" Harry asked, completely forgetting Pansy's earlier explanation.

"It's a part of the illness. It's a very minor thing, nothing to be worried about. As their brains catch up with their actual age they'll loose the ability to understand both baby talk and basic language at once. It happens because the brains are trying to handle two memory time lines at once," Hermione explained.

"I see." But he did not. He couldn't understand why Albus would have papa in his baby vocabulary when he hadn't even learnt how to say mommy.

It wasn't hard for Hermione to guess what her best friend was thinking. She reached out to hold his hand.

"Harry, I understand this is too much to take in. Given what all of us, specially you and Draco are going through. But don't you think it's time for you to move on?"

"What do you mean, move on?" What Hermione was saying was stupid. Even if the children liked Harry and Draco, so much so they had turned them into their second fathers. It didn't mean that they'd actually have to get romantically involved.

"Harry, look, I understand if you need time to think. But don't you think you have pined after Ginny for too long? Even Ron is worried about you. If you weren't already divorced Ron himself would've brought you the divorce papers. And not just him. We all think you should start going out again. You can't spend all your life waiting for Ginny or make Albus wait for a mother he's never going to get."

"I'm not making Albus wait for her. Ginny just has a bad case of baby blues. She'll be fine soon. And then she'll want to see him." _See us_ , Harry wanted to say but he didn't dare to sound hopeful. "What if she returns only to see I'm pushing Albus to love someone else in her place. And nonetheless Draco! I don't even get along with him!"

Hermione knew trying to push the matter too hard would just freak Harry out even more. Right now she just needed to plant the idea in his head. It's not like she hadn't noticed it. Even Ron had. In fact it was him who told her how Draco would only talk about the twins, then gradually shift to talk about Albus and then somehow end up talking about Harry, every single time Ron joined him to Draco's house.

Whoever had cast renaissance on the twins was a daring bastard and the aurors had found some other dangerous spells and wards laid around the house that had a similar trace. They still weren't done with the investigation so Draco had to be accompanied to the house, every time he needed to go there.

"You know you're lying Harry. I don't know what you bickered about to make you join the gym, but otherwise you two have been getting along quite well actually. And there was Draco's welcome punch too. I'm not telling you to get involved with him right away. I'm just asking you to think about it. We're always here for you, but we can't be here constantly, or for every single thing. Besides Draco looks like he wouldn't mind it either," Hermione said.

She still remembered the check up when Harry had defended Draco's statement that the twins were just weird pure blood squibs. She also remembered the way Draco had let Harry do it.

It didn't end there. Over the course of two months that Draco had spent with Harry and all the times Hermione had been over she'd noticed how they had eased up around each other. The first time she'd come to check up on the twins, Draco and Harry were sitting on the two ends of the couch, their backs straight as if they were rivals preparing for an interview.

Gradually as time passed on, she'd arrive for the check up only to find them sitting on the ground reading quidditch magazines together while the children played around. This week and the last one had been a little more tense, but it hardly had anything to do with Harry and Draco returning to their old rivalry.

Harry didn't answer. Hermione hoped she hadn't ruined everything.

"I think I should go now. It's pretty late and I've got work tomorrow," she said and got up. In such situations it was always best to let Harry have some space to think for himself.

"Yes, you should. Ron must be waiting for you," Harry mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Hermione. It's not always good to let Harry have some space to think. Cause then he comes up with stupid ideas.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to have more things happen to our bbys but uhhh, I still need to learn a lot about writing. Though I hope the next few chapters will please you guys :)

Draco had returned to the manor despite Narcissa's insistence to not return. She had gotten badly spooked by seeing her son pass out the way he had. Lucius agreed with her but Draco was stubborn. He should've known better himself than to join them in the gazebo.

Besides in several more weeks it would end anyway. Deep down Draco knew it was cruel of him to do this to his parents, or to Pansy and Blaise who had gotten deeply attached to the twins.

He just couldn't help it. He'd stayed away from the Wizarding world for nineteen years. As happy as he was living a muggle life he'd still missed everyone and everything. And now that he'd gotten a taste of it all he was daring to push his limits even further. He'd deal with the guilt of breaking everyone's hearts again when the time comes.

He'd wanted to take all three children with him but Harry had somewhere to go with Albus, so it was only him and the twins. The twins were trying to crochet with Narcissa's club. Draco would've stayed there to keep an eye on them but Lucius had something to discuss. In the end he left the potion Hermione had given him to Narcissa and instructed her how to use it before joining Lucius.

They were walking through the manor grounds. Lucius was quite obviously avoiding the gazebo.

"You wanted to talk father?" Draco started, when it became clear to him that Lucius wasn't going to start the conversation.

"You shouldn't have returned here," Lucius finally said, getting straight to the point.

"And why is that?" Draco asked, surprising himself. Old Draco would've never dared to ask for an explanation. And even more so when he already knew why.

"I think the incident from two days ago is enough of an explanation," Lucius said. A peacock walked past them and Lucius stopped to let it waddle out of their way in peace.

"It wasn't as bad as you think. The children screaming on top of their lungs just made it seem worse than it was."

"Crying children don't make anyone bedridden," Lucius scoffed.

"That was Harry insisting that I need the rest. He thinks just because he bosses over rest of the magical world he can boss over me too," Draco snorted.

Lucius knew better than to point out that Harry had managed to boss over him. While Draco had been resting Narcissa had called Hermione to know about his current state. Besides he really didn't want his son to get started on Harry again. He'd tolerated it ever since his son had met the boy, even more so ever after he'd returned to the Wizarding world.

"It's not just about that incident. Despite the renovation and all the changes, sometimes living here gets daunting for your mother and I too," Lucius confessed, "Your last memories of this place hardly were anything that can be easily handled. Did you even get any help before leaving. I don't think you could go to therapy for the war to any muggle doctor."

Lucius' question left Draco baffled. If his father was suggesting therapy then hell must've frozen over. His father had never been the type to be supportive of such things and now he was the one asking if Draco had gone to therapy as if it would've had been the most natural thing for his son to do.

"No, I didn't," Draco confessed, "But I hardly had it as bad as other people did. I didn't have a raging psycho trying to wipe me off of the surface of earth," he added, leaving out the fact that he had wanted to on many occasions but his father's voice in his head had stopped him every time. Because he wasn't weak, he didn't need therapy. Instead he let out a chuckle as if he had just cracked the joke of the year.

Lucius hardly found it amusing.

They fell into silence again as they walked past the beautifully arranged flowerbeds. Every now and then Lucius would glance at his son noticing how Draco was taking all the changes in, his eyes large with curiosity. It reminded him of when Draco was a child. Letting the boy enter his study on rare occasions always made the place seem less dull after spending hours there, doing all of the boring work.

Draco had always been a curious child, and although even Narcissa couldn't see it Lucius had seen the potential of leadership in him. Draco knew when to take the lead and when to stay in the shadows. Such children were always more dangerous than the ones openly creating havoc or the goody-two-shoes. One never knew when they'd turn their backs on you or foil all your plans and take a different path of their liking. Lucius had feared it and so he'd raised Draco accordingly, although he never succeeded at it. Not that he regretted it anyway. He saw his mistake now.

All the thinking made him realize, it had been years since he'd actually, sincerely, asked his son how he was doing. He came to a halt and cleared his throat.

"How are you Draco?" He asked.

"I am fine," Draco answered, wary by the sudden change of topic.

"I'm not asking that. How are you really doing? How have you been all these years? What is going on in your life?" Lucius explained. He knew that it was too late to try and build a bridge between them but better now then never.

Draco could tell that his father was trying to build a connection with him. He'd always imagined of the day his father would give up on the leading pure bloods crap and focus on Draco as he was. The conversations he'd have with Draco, but now that his father was trying Draco couldn't come up with any answers.

Over the years it has become natural for him to filter all of his words before opening his mouth in front of his father. Draco knew his father wished him to tell about his job, his hobbies and so on. But his brains automatically filtered everything. Suddenly his otherwise interesting job of teaching a bunch of wild children had become "oh I just teach kids". His hobbies, motocross and parkour became "nothing". And the same happened to rest of his life.

"Not much really. Lived a basic muggle life, being a father and all that," Draco said feeling a little embarrassed. It was weird to talk about being a father to his own father. He wasn't lying, but it was far from the truth. 

He knew that it happened only because he was overly conscious about Lucius' judgment. He also knew that the Lucius standing in front of him wouldn't judge him. Perhaps motocross would be a new thing to him that he might never up liking, but he wouldn't judge his son for the hobby. However, old habits die hard and so Draco did the same thing he'd subconsciously adapted when he was a child. He chuckled awkwardly and shrugged shoulders, letting silence fall upon them until Lucius would break it.

Years ago this was the pattern of conversation Lucius preferred. He liked being the one in charge and the one being listened. But now deep down it hurt him. It hurt him to see that his son couldn't trust him enough to talk to him. Lucius calmed himself. He knew it would take more than one chat, one attempt to break the shell _he_ had built around his son.

\----- ----- -----

The Malfoy twins were naturally talented with their hands, which the crocheting club discovered pretty fast. Sure being children their pieces were ratty and full of mistakes but they were just amazed by how easily the twins learnt so many things in one sitting.

One sitting that stretched all the way to dinner. When Draco realized that he'd be having dinner with his family he'd texted Harry to tell him not to wait for them. He was waiting to receive a snarky text back from Harry who seemed to take an offense every time the twins came back from Blaise's playpark, their tummy full with snacks. None came.

But before he could get worried he'd been distracted by the club members. Last time he'd left when they'd come. But this time they got to gush over the not dead Malfoy heir. Sure the news of him being alive had already spread like wildfire and started to die down too, but seeing him in flesh and blood was something entirely different.

Draco sighed in relief that he'd worn the turtle neck shirt under his light robes. Sure it made him feel hot indoors but at least it hid the black tendrils on his neck. He was already mortified enough by the picture of him in his out-of-a-punk-band looks.

To his further relief everyone left by the dinner time and they got to enjoy a family dinner on their own. Narcissa and the twins were the ones keeping the conversation alive. The twins excitedly chattered about the things they'd crocheted, or at least attempted to. Every now and then Lucius and Draco would quip in with their own comments. And every time Draco would join a conversation his father started, Lucius would get this weird expression that Draco didn't let his mind linger on. Narcissa on the other hand saw how her husband was trying and squeezed his hand encouragingly under the table. 

All in all the dinner, and the entire visit overall had been a success.

\----- ----- -----

He finally remembered to get worried over not receiving a snarky text the moment he stepped out of the floo. He couldn't hear anything, not see much either. All the lights were switched off, except for the streak of light illuminating from the kitchen. He made his way to the kitchen only to see Harry sitting by the table with warm dinner. He must've kept it magically warm because there was way too much steam coming out of the pot of soup.

When he looked at Harry he noticed there was steam coming out of him too, albeit figuratively. Harry was glaring daggers at him. Draco knew that look. It was the how-dare-you-eat-out-when-I-was-waiting. Or also known as you-could've-called-me.

Draco lifted his hands up like a criminal caught in the act, "I texted you." He'd hoped that the charming grin on his face would calm Harry. And so it seemed at first. Harry nodded and turned away to put things away. It seemed like he was upset and pouting, like he'd always do to endear the twins into eating at least a little. However, Draco's assumption broke the moment Harry banged the unused dishes on top of the other dishes in the cupboard.

Harry was really mad.

Draco motioned to the twins, who had a worried frown, to go upstairs. As they retreated Draco took a tentative step towards Harry.

"Harry, is something wrong?" He asked, worried by Harry's behavior. He heard Harry exhale loudly as if doing his best to keep the rage inside.

Harry turned to look at him, his eyes filled with rage, "You could've called me!"

"I texted you," Draco said slightly amused, not really scared by the death glare that could've sent anyone quivering away. It was hard not to be amused when Harry behaved like a moody spouse.

"It's not the same!" Harry said, his voice increasing a notch, "All of you think you can just say whatever you want, make yourselves heard and be done with it!" Now Draco was really beginning to feel everything wasn't alright, and it had nothing to do with the dinner.

"Calm down Harry," Draco tried to pacify him.

"I won't!" Harry, nearly shouted, while stomping his foot. Draco realized he should most probably close the door so they won't wake Albus up, but he was too far from the kitchen door to not make it awkward.

"You'll wake Albus up," Draco tried, only to discover he'd hit the wrong button.

Harry's voice dropped making him sound dangerous, "Why do you care? It's none of your business. It's no one's business. Albus can die for all I care!"

Draco was shocked by Harry's words. Was Harry even aware of the bullshit he was spewing? "Harry, you don't mean that. Now tell me what happened."

"Why do you care? Who the hell do you think you are? His father? Just because you live here doesn't mean that you've become family. Albus doesn't have two fathers. He has a father and _A MOTHER_ ," Harry snarled at Draco, rendering the taller man speechless. The way Harry had emphasized the word mother, it became obvious to Draco that it wasn't about dinner or Albus or Draco. It was about that Weaslette. It was always about her.

Draco quickly connected the dots in his mind. "You went to meet your wife today, didn't you?" He asked, making Harry look even more angry.

"She's not my wife," Harry hissed, "not anymore."

There was a broken edge to his voice, that made Draco's heart break a little, the rage that had begun to build up in him after Harry's words dissipated a little. "Harry, what happened with her?" Draco asked, not bothering to make sure if Harry had actually met her.

Harry was about to shout at him again, but Draco took another step closer to him and cupped his face with one hand and rested his other hand on Harry's shoulder. "And don't lie to me. Just let it all out," he whispered to Harry, who had frozen under the sudden touch.

It came out of the blue. By the time he'd registered it and would've stepped away the warmth of Draco's hands kept him lingering. It was different from the hugs Hermione gave him or the brotherly pats Ron gave him on the back. The look of concern in Draco's eyes was full of— Harry didn't care what it was, all he knew was that he'd craved for it. It made him calm down.

Harry let out a quivering sigh, "Yes, I went to meet Ginny today."

He expected to see the concern in Draco's eyes turn into something different. It always did. Even Molly had given up on Ginny, every time Harry would tell her he'd tried to get in touch with Ginny she'd get this sad look in her eyes that begged him to let it be. However, Draco didn't look at him like that. Instead he kept waiting for Harry to continue, so he did.

"I'd told her I'd come to meet her. We arranged to meet at a nearby café. When I got there and she saw Albus she didn't want to stay. She called him a parasite that ruined her life," Harry said, barely choking a sob.

"Harry—" Draco started, but didn't know what to say. How could she? Harry had told him she had baby blues but everything had its limits. Could baby blues really do that to a mother?

"She told me all those times she'd supposedly met Albus at the Burrow, she hadn't actually met him. When I called Molly to confirm she told me Ginny would visit her family but never paid any attention to Albus. And no one bothered to tell me. They'd just assure me everything was fine and I never got suspicious of the sad look in their eyes."

Harry shivered under Draco's touch, unable to control the sobbing anymore. Just as Harry had held him in a half hug after the incident at the Manor, Draco too pulled Harry closer and patted his back soothingly.

"The reason she wanted me to stay away during the meetings wasn't because she hates me but because she didn't want me to try and make her interact with Albus," Harry said. He was trying his best to not cry, resulting in warm puffs of breath as he exhaled against Draco's chest. Draco didn't mind. He let Harry take his time to collect himself and calm down.

"I am so sorry for what happened today Harry," he said, resting his head on Harry's head, who had at some point leaned against the counter to avoid leaning on Draco too much, thus ending up in a rather uncomfortable pose though right now neither of them noticed it. "I know it must be hard for you. You loved Ginny," he said, easily avoiding the nickname he would otherwise never cease to use, "and I'm sure that somewhere deep down she loves you both. Baby blues can be quite rough for everyone." Draco wasn't sure how rough it could actually be but it didn't matter anyway.

"Don't lie to me. Last thing I need is for my ex-archenemy to lie to me," Harry said. His intention wasn't to make the man chuckle. But Draco did chuckle, his chest vibrating against against Harry's forehead.

"I'm not lying, Potter. I'm sure she would've loved Albus way more than you do if it weren't for the baby blues. I won't tell you to give her time, you have waited nearly a year. But I would tell you to stop pining for her. You have to live your life, not for Ginny to come back and love you, but for yourself and Albus."

"I'm not pining after her. Albus needs his mother."

The anger that had gone away, allowing Draco to even chuckle came back at once. That was a line Draco had heard all too many times. A child needs a mother or a father to function otherwise nothing would come out of it. As a teacher of small children and as a single father he'd come to hate it.

Draco stepped away from Harry, leaving him feeling vulnerable again. His stormy expression didn't help Harry either. "He does not need a mother, or a father for that matter," Draco snapped, "What Albus needs is love, which in you're not giving him."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but Draco didn't let him, his voice getting a notch higher, "All those times when you've tried to make Ginny spend time with Albus, you could've been there. You could've taken Albus to fun places, played games with him, spent time with him. But you chose not to. You could give Albus love, but all you're giving him is a false hope that he's not even aware of! You spend all your time planning lessons or in Hogwarts, leaving the boy all alone with everyone else. And when he finally gets to spend time with you, you thrust her into Ginny's arms who isn't in the position to love him right now. Have you seen the look in his eyes, when he sees that his father is staying at home spending time with him. He doesn't consider me his second father because Ginny isn't here. It's because you don't give him enough time!"

It was a look that was hard for Draco to miss on any child's face, since he'd had it himself so many times as a child. Lucius taking a break from his important things to spend some time with his son had been a rarity which surprised Draco up until the point he began to hate his father. When he'd seen Albus' excitement in the beginning of his stay he'd thought he was reading too much into it but now it made sense to him.

Harry stared at the ground, each sentence that Draco said piercing through him. It was true. He didn't spend nearly as much time with Albus as he should've. He had been, in fact, pining after Ginny. He wasn't sure anymore whether it had ever even been for Albus, or if it had been for himself. But if it was coming from Draco then perhaps it truly was time he stopped.

Draco was still seething with anger not really giving Harry any chance to protest or escape, waiting for him to say something, when a a high pitched whine came from Albus' nursery. Draco should've closed the door after all. But it wasn't what was bothering him.

Harry took a step to go to Albus but Draco stopped him. "I don't think you should go anywhere near him tonight when you're not behaving any better than his mother is." Turning on his heels Draco entered Albus' nursery leaving Harry alone in the kitchen.


	35. Chapter 35

Draco took a deep breath before opening the door to Albus' room. He didn't want his mood to affect the child since he had no idea how bad things had already gotten before he had arrived. Another loud whimper came through the door making Draco finally open it and enter the nursery. It was dark in the room, but Draco could still see the silhouette of Albus in his baby cot. It was more than obvious that the child hadn't slept at all. Draco couldn't believe Harry had left Albus alone in the dark like that. The anger began to bubble in him again, and it took all his might to keep it down.

"Aww, Albus. You haven't slept yet honey," Draco began to coo to the child, who was staring back at him.

Harry could hear Draco's coos all the way in the kitchen, and hearing that his son had stopped crying not because he'd fallen asleep but because he'd given up made Harry's heart wrench.

"Come here," Draco reached out and Albus didn't waste a moment scrambling to get into Draco's arms. He rocked Albus in his arms and paced in the limited space between all the toys laying on the floor. He began to hum a lullaby he used to sing to the twins when they were actual babies. Despite the calming tune Draco couldn't calm himself down. He was scared Albus would feel it too, but luckily he was too tired after all the crying and waiting, that the humming in a deep voice was enough to make him fall asleep. However, Draco still kept pacing for a while.

He knew that getting out of the room would just make things even worse. Right now facing Harry would be a great mistake. He couldn't believe everything happened because of that Weasley girl. It was always her! Always! He couldn't help the flashbacks of the eighth year Christmas. Even then it had all been about her. Draco could never forget the bitter end their short period of time together had gotten. After that he'd refused to cross paths with Harry again, even in Hogwarts. To think that she would ruin a potential friendship too! Draco knew he'd never manage to win Harry's heart, but after all these years when he wanted to at least befriend the man, he'd pined after for so long, she ruined it again.

Albus let out a sniffle, making Draco realize he was holding the child a little too tight. Draco whispered soothing words to the sleeping child before setting him back into his cot. He should've left right away, but he kept lingering by the baby cot. He wanted to stay there and protect the child. The thought made him want to laugh. Only person anyone needed protection from was Draco himself. He watched as Albus sniffled again and turned to sleep on his stomach.

 _Just like him,_ Draco thought, regretting the thought immediately. He really did not want to think of it. Instead he began to play with the red locks of hair. The colour was similar to the Weasleys but the wild curls were so much like Harry's wild black curls. His thoughts went to Hestia's hair. The long hair that she only managed to tame by cutting it short. She and her brother kept competing on who could get a more eye catching haircut. Oh, all those wild Mohawks, undercuts and other haircuts that at first gave him a heart attack, but eventually he began to think of them as an essential part of his children. They weren't his Hessie and Scorp if they weren't sporting mad haircuts.

Suddenly Draco felt his eyes sting. He really should stop thinking. Before leaving he leant down and placed a soft peck on Albus' forehead. "I'm glad for all your love," he whispered thinking of all the time he'd spent with Albus, the fact Albus thought of him as his father. It was funny how Albus never stirred anything else but happiness and lately love in him, when Draco should've perhaps hated the child. But then his mother... After all these years he still couldn't help hating her, and he'd even managed get into friendly terms with her brother. "I'm glad we got to meet you. Please, keep him happy and don't let him break your heart. Even unintentionally."

Casting a last glance at the sleeping boy, Draco left the room hoping he wouldn't have to face the child in the morning. He hoped that staying up late would make the poor thing oversleep. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to leave Grimmauld Place himself, let alone ask the twins to behave themselves.

\----- ----- -----

Harry watched as Draco closed the door behind him and without casting a single glance towards the open doorway of the kitchen went to his room. Harry wanted to call out to him, but he couldn't find his voice. The stormy expression, full of disappointment and hurt, was hard to face. Instead, a moment later very slowly, almost robotically, he followed Draco's lead and went to his own room. 

Staring at the ceiling, Harry couldn't help but wonder if these sleepless nights of tossing and turning would ever end for him. Draco's words were still ringing in his head and to make matters worse he realized just how horrible he had been to his son. All of his previous choices hurting the child unknowingly. And then he'd gone and said all those horrible things.

_Albus can die for all I care!_

Harry felt sick. A big stone rolling in his stomach. Draco was right. In his desperate try to fix things between them, _him_ , and Ginny, Harry had ended up doing exactly what Ginny had done. Those had been the same words she'd said the day they got out of St. Mungo's and she had apparated away despite her condition, leaving their newborn and Harry stunned by the main entrance. 

Then he remembered what he'd said to Draco about Albus not needing two fathers, thus dismissing everything Draco had done for him while staying with them. All the moments that Draco had spent with Albus, when Ginny had refused. It made the realization even more painful. It had never been about Albus, because then he wouldn't have cared who was giving him the love, as long as he was being loved. It had been about Harry himself, all along. Harry could never accept Ginny leaving them suddenly like that. Leaving _him_ like that.

He kept trying to sleep but sleep was evading him quite effectively. Eventually he gave up on any hope of sleeping. He needed to talk to Draco, he needed to apologize to the man. It took a little more tossing and turning before Harry finally gathered the courage to get out of his room. It was still early hours in the morning and he thought he'd make some coffee before he'd go to Draco and apologize to the man for everything he'd said.

When Harry came down a surprising sight awaited him. Draco was sitting by the dining table, sipping his tea with a thoughtful expression. He'd changed out of his robes at some point and was wearing only a pair of sweatpants, all of the tattoos on his upper body completely exposed in the pale light of dawn. Seeing Draco sit in his kitchen so comfortably, like he belonged there made the stone in his stomach roll around even more. The sweet sight was like salt to Harry's wounds. He felt even more guilty. Harry wished he could go back in time and slap himself in the face. Draco, who was trying hard to not doze off, didn't notice Harry. He took another sip of his tea, the furrow between his brows deepening.

"Morning," Harry finally managed to croak, startling Draco out of his thoughts.

The other man just nodded, barely keeping himself from glaring at Harry.

"Look, I— I am—"

" _Potter_ , I hardly am in the mood for any of that," Draco grumbled. As sweet as it would've been to wrangle an apology out of Harry, right now Draco needed to keep his distance from the man. Accepting an apology would mean giving him another chance. Another chance would mean greater pain to his heart, when Harry would once again break it unintentionally.

Harry felt his heart break at the switch of his name. Draco had done it on several occasions but it had always been as a joke or for a sarcastic remark, not out of hurt and pain. "Draco, please. I know whatever I said was extremely hurtful. I know I hurt your feelings and I was horrible to Albus but I've understood my mistake—"

"Please, _Potter_ ," Draco stopped him. He knew he shouldn't do this to Harry, not right now. That he should let him apologize and give him a chance to set things straight. But he'd always been a coward, hadn't he? Always preserving his own heart first, himself first, and then caring about rest of the world. Instead Draco took the parchment, he'd spent his night writing, and handed it to Harry. "Could you please owl this to mother?"

Harry took the rolled up parchment, "What is this about?"

Draco finally looked at Harry, hesitation clear in his eyes. He looked away, "Hermione said that the only two places magical enough for their treatment were here and the manor. I think it's about time we moved there. I have asked mother to prepare some rooms for us. There's not much packing to do, we will leave as soon as mother is done."

Draco's words hit him like a boulder. He was leaving them and he would take the twins too. Harry couldn't let that happen. Albus loved them, both Draco and the twins. He loved the twins too. And he'd come to enjoy Draco's presence in the house as well. He had to stop them from leaving.

Harry gulped, "I am very sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean any of it. I was too indulged in my own worries and insecurities, I wasn't thinking straight. Merlin! I'd never want Albus to get even a scratch on his body. And I never meant to overlook everything you've done for Albus. I was just too distraught when realized I was getting comfortable without Ginny. I don't know why it scared me like that, it just did."

Before Harry could go on with his apology Draco had gotten up and crossed the room. "Shh, Harry, it's okay. I know you didn't mean it. It's not about what happened today. I was planning on moving anyway. The guest room is getting too cramped for the three of us. I just think now is a good time to do it."

Draco knew Harry wouldn't buy it, and looking into his eyes it was obvious. He wanted to touch Harry, cup his face, pull him against his chest again and say everything was fine. However, they both knew it was a lie. Harry might be able to start again, but Draco couldn't. He had started all over again nineteen years ago. He didn't have any power left in him to do so again. He couldn't try again only to be told that he would mean nothing in front of that Weaslette.

Harry clutched to his arm, stopping him from getting out, "No, it's not okay! Draco, look I really am sorry. Albus will be heartbroken if you guys leave."

Harry's pleading was making it hard for Draco but he had to do this. Besides, after the twins would be cured he'd have to leave anyway. It would be harder for him to leave Harry and Albus behind than his parents.

"First sort out whose feelings you are trying to deal with," he said as coldly as he could before wrenching his arm away and leaving for his room. Harry remained frozen to his spot, only the sound of his tears hitting the parchment echoing in his ears. He couldn't care less about privacy at the moment. Blinking the tears away he began to read the letter.

_Dear Mother,_

_I am sorry to inconvenience you at such a short notice. As of late it has been becoming harder and harder to stay in one room with the twins. Now that they have been a few times at the manor and clearly love staying there, I was wondering if you could prepare my old nursery and my old room for us. We have overstayed our welcome here and it is about time we bid farewell to Mr. Potter and little Albus. If it isn't too much of an inconvenience we would like to stay the remaining time with you and father, starting from the moment you receive this letter._

_Draco._

_From the moment you receive this letter._ Knowing Narcissa, Harry knew, that she wouldn't waste a single moment after receiving this letter. She would, in fact, make Draco move as soon as he'd be ready to move. Harry wanted to crumple and burn the letter he was holding but instead he rolled it back and decided to owl it a few hours later. Since Draco already mentioned the issue about too little space, it would be stupid of him to owl it so early and raise suspicion.

\----- ----- -----

The following morning began at noon. Harry woke up to the noise of something falling in the kitchen— and Kreacher grumbling very loudly? Despite wanting to bury his face deeper into the pillow Harry pushed himself out of the bed and staggered downstairs.

"What's going on?" He asked as he stepped into the kitchen only to lay his eyes into a what looked like a post apocalyptic scenario. The dining table was covered with breakfast ingredients. And so was the floor. The stove was still on but the pan on it was laying sideways all the sticky liquid in it dropping down and spreading. There were unsuccessfully cracked eggs on the counter and way too many dishes all over the kitchen. The twins were huddled in one corner while Kreacher was angrily dealing with the mess.

When no one answered him, or rather twins wept silently and Kreacher kept whining Harry repeated his question. "What's going on here?"

His voice was authoritative enough for the twins to first stop weeping and then start bawling even harder.

"We— some break— you and Daddy—" they bawled at once, not making any sense to Harry.

Giving up, Harry gave Kreacher the permission to get the kitchen in order with magic as he was too tired himself, a nasty headache making him want to puke. In a flash everything was in order again except the twins. Harry told Kreacher to leave them alone and then approached the twins who were still crying in the corner.

"Hey, it's okay. Now tell me what were you two doing here?" He wiped the tears away with the tips of his fingers.

"We wanted to make breakfast for everyone—" Scorpius said with a nasally crying voice.

"Because you and Daddy must be tired after fighting yesterday," Hestia finished for her brother who couldn't do it himself through the hiccups.

Harry felt a twist in his guts. The memories of the previous night rushed into his mind, if it hadn't been for the twins staring at him intently he would've broken down right then and there. Instead, Harry noticed both twins were covered in the same sticky goo that had been falling from the pan. On a closer look Harry realized that it was egg. That's were the contents of the eggs on the counter had gone.

It was too early for him to deal with this but Harry didn't feel like dealing with grumpy Kreacher right now and he didn't want to wake up Draco, not ready to face the man yet. He must've been too tired from last night if he'd managed to sleep through all this commotion.

He shushed the twins and helped them shower. Luckily some of their clothes had been drying so Harry didn't need to try and sneak into their room to get them. It took a while for Harry to find the clothes of right size, since he had to keep in mind that the twins would grow out of them in a few hours. Once satisfied with his clothing choices he returned to kitchen to prepare a brunch with the twins. They spent an hour together having fun making pancakes before Harry heard his son's squeals emerge through the nursery door. Leaving the twins to set up the table Harry went to get Albus from his room.

"Good morning, love," he said as he opened the door. The sight of his son standing in his cot, grinning wide, like the sun from Teletubbies, when he caught a sight of his father, made Harry catch his breath. Now he knew what Draco had meant. He silently vowed never to give Albus a reason to not grin wholeheartedly like that.

Seeing his father Albus began to jump in his cot, "Da!"

Harry picked him up and hugged his son tight, and then proceeded to blow raspberries on his tummy, making the boy laugh. He didn't want to let go of his son but the twins were waiting for them. After going through Albus' morning routine Harry came back to the kitchen with Albus, and saw Draco too had joined them. Except this time instead of hurt he looked pissed off and the twins looked guilty.

"Good morning Draco," Harry forced a smile, although he felt bad for the twins. And for himself too.

"If you're definition of a good morning is getting your kitchen wrecked up by two monsters, then good morning to you too," Draco snarled, making Harry want to laugh. He wasn't sure if the annoyance was only about breakfast or it was the remaining anger from the previous night, and frankly he didn't want to ask Draco either.

"Oh, don't be such a spoil sport. They made up for it by helping me with the brunch," Harry said, pretending that everything was fine, as he set Albus down on his high chair. "How did you even find out?"

"Someone here can't keep his mouth shut when he should," Hestia glared at her brother, earning a glare back from him.

If this was the last day he'd get with them, then he'd better spend it in the best way possible. And it seemed like Draco was thinking along the same lines, as his frown softened a little and he let a tiny smile play on his lips. Harry felt his heart skip a beat. Quickly he turned away and saw the twins fooling around with Albus, getting their food everywhere. What usually would've made him sigh internally felt now like the most important thing. He wanted to etch that moment into his mind forever.

 _"I can't let this go,"_ he caught himself thinking. He had to come up with a way to stop them, stop Draco. Waking up late had resulted in him being unable to owl the letter yet, so he still had a chance to change Draco's mind. He knew that if Draco could he'd rather stay away from the manor, but the excuse he had given Harry was a legitimate one too. After all it must be hard to sleep with two eight year olds in the same bed. The bed in the guest room was big but not even that big. And from those various times that the twins had fallen asleep on the couch or on Albus' blankets, Harry knew they moved around a lot. Whether Draco actually meant it or not, it still was an issue.

"We could set up a bunk bed for them in Albus' room," Harry suddenly offered, hoping to sound as natural as he could.

"And what? Let them ruin the little bit of sleep we get anyway? They'd never let him sleep, and if he stays awake we won't sleep. Merlin knows, how I manage to shut them up at night. If I doze off they start whispering as if doing that right next to my ears wouldn't bother me," Draco huffed, but the stare he gave Harry was more than enough to tell, that there was no changing his mind.

"Well, then we can rearrange the guest room. A single bed for you and a bunk bed for the twins," Harry tried again, as he dug into his breakfast. 

Draco just hummed in reply, still glaring at his coffee.

When they were done eating, Draco stayed behind to do the dishes, letting Harry go with Albus and the twins. Harry left the children to play on their own and joined Draco in the kitchen.

"You never said anything about the bunk beds," he said, as nonchalantly as he could.

Draco set the dishes aside and turned to look at Harry, "Look, I know that you genuinely are sorry, _Potter_. But we really do need to move. The room is big, but not big enough for a single bed and a bunk bed. I know that my timing is awful. I didn't mean it to look like I'm angry with you. You were upset yesterday. It was only natural that you reacted the way you did."

"No, it was not," Harry retorted, "Please, Draco. You can't leave. Not like this. I don't want us to part on bad terms. Not again."

Draco perked up at Harry's words. "What do you mean again?"

"Remember Christmas break in eighth year?"

"I— I do. We smuggled some drinks in and spent the night getting shit faced."

"And the next day you began to avoid me like the plague. I tried to talk to you over and over again but you'd always manage to slip away. And then you vanished completely."

Of course, Draco remembered it. Harry's continuous attempts to talk to him again. At first he had avoided Harry out of anger and shame, then he'd found out about Hestia.

"Well, spending Christmas shit faced isn't exactly the way we Malfoys spend our Christmas. I was ashamed, to say the least. Then we got busy with our O.W.Ls and after that I had to make the big decision," Draco rolled his eyes and pointed his head towards the open doorway and the twins, once again acting as if he'd just cracked the biggest joke. He really needed to stop doing that as Harry too frowned at him the way his father had done the previous day. He wondered if it was his timing or if his jokes actually were that bad. Vesta had mentioned something about both whenever he would be nervous. He'd have to wait for the twins to grow back and ask for their honest opinion.

"Fine... What about now? Why do you want to leave now?"

"I already told—"

"You're lying to me and I asked you to not do that. I know I've made a mistake and I'm begging for another chance."

Draco opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I'm not lying. My timing was awful, but we honestly need to move. Besides, you were right. Given that we are here only temporarily the children shouldn't get attached. It would only cause trouble on a longer run. Harry, trust me, I'm not angry with you."

Before Harry could say anything, Draco barged out of the room. He just hoped his mother had already received the letter.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit shorter. I don't celebrate Christmas so I wanted to update during Christmas too but which mere mortal has ever managed to resist Christmas classics :D? Basically, I wrote this chapter while binging Christmas classics from tv, so it ended up being a bit dry compared the last few chapters. But I still loved the scene so I thoughts I'd post it.
> 
> I hope you guys like it :)

It was the thirteenth sigh Harry had let out. Yes, Hermione was counting. It had been about a week since Draco had moved to live in the manor, and there was about one week left before the next school year would start. While it was typical of Harry to start working on the coming school year a week or two before it started, it wasn't typical at all that he didn't swing between excited blabbering and frustrated whining.

It was the third day in row he had come over. According to him it was hard to work at home because Albus would get bored and interrupt him. However, to Hermione it seemed like Harry was missing Draco and the twins. And so was Albus. No matter how much Rose would try to play with the little boy nothing seemed to catch his attention for long enough. Eventually he would blubber something about the twins, calling them _'Sie_ and _'Sor_. His third and fourth words if Hermione wasn't wrong.

Harry let out his fourteenth sigh, his timing bad as Ron walked into the living room right then.

"Is the curriculum that bad for next year?" He asked as he took a seat next to Hermione who was going through some of her own files.

"Hmm?" Harry hummed, not really paying attention to anyone else, though Hermione doubted if he was paying anymore attention to the file in front of him.

"I asked if the curriculum is very bad this year?" Ron repeated his question.

Harry let out a short gruntle that didn't really indicate anything. Ron looked at his wife who just shrugged back. Knowing Harry, Ron was well aware that he'd never be able to pry anything out of his best friend, specially if it was about that ferret. When it came to prying Hermione was better at it. Ron on the other hand was better when it came to just listening Harry rant, which Hermione was awful at. She'd keep stopping Harry to get the details or to comment otherwise. Casting a meaningful glance at Hermione he got up and left the room to check on the children who were playing in Rose's room.

"So, Harry," Hermione started.

"Yes?" Harry said noncommittally. His thoughts were far away in Grimmauld place. Ever since Draco had left he couldn't help but wonder if rearranging the furniture would've hindered Draco's move at all. After all he'd ended up owling the letter very late. He'd had the remaining day up until later in the evening to counter Draco's excuse of space with a proper idea. Perhaps he should've offered the nursery entirely to the twins. After all Albus had been sleeping with him. It would've been perfect. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it anymore. Except sigh, yet again.

"You never answered Ron's question."

"Uh-huh," he hummed, more to himself than to Hermione.

"Harry!"

Harry finally looked up from the file he'd been staring at for the last twenty minutes. "Yeah?"

"You didn't answer Ron's question," Hermione said.

"Oh, I didn't notice. What did he ask again?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to sigh. "Forget the question. Is something bothering you Harry? You've been distraught for several days now."

"Bothering me? Nothing 'Mione. Where'd that come from?" Harry said, looking away from her.

"Harry, how many years have we known each other?" She asked, and without waiting for Harry's reply she went on, "I can tell when something is bothering you. Even Ron is worried about you."

"Nothing is bothering me. I'm just starting to get a little stressed. I should've started all this a week ago," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Harry I know how you act when you're stressed over your work. This is about Draco and the twins, isn't it?" Hermione stopped going round and round about it and got straight to the point. The grimace on Harry's face was proof enough that she was right with her guess.

"No, it's not," Harry said stubbornly.

"Harry."

Harry knew it was useless to try and evade or hide things from Hermione. However, a part of him refused to want to talk about it, so Harry went back to staring at the file. At least he'd had the sense to finally change the page. He could feel Hermione's eyes on him, studying him as she always did when he acted like a stubborn moron. Moments passed but she said nothing. Harry just felt her eyes burn holes to his side. He knew this trick and fell for it every single time. And despite his best efforts he failed once again.

"He didn't leave because there was a problem with space. I mean it was an issue but not the main reason for them to leave," Harry confessed.

"What was the reason then?" Hermione asked, sensing that Harry must've had done something utterly stupid.

Seeing there was no other way but to tell Hermione, Harry pushed the file away and turned to face Hermione, both of them sitting cozily on the couch. "After our talk that day I freaked out."

Hermione killed her urge to ask how exactly he'd freaked out and instead waited patiently for Harry to continue.

"I thought about what you'd said. About starting to like Draco. I think somewhere deep down I realized that you were right and I got scared. All this time I've been waiting for Ginny. I couldn't believe I was abandoning her so easily over my ex-rival just because he has changed for better," Harry said, flushing slightly in embarrassment at the last bit.

"Oh, Harry! You're not abandoning Gin—"

"I know! I know it now. The realization was just too sudden, new. I thought that maybe seeing Ginny again would set me right. I called her and we decided to meet, but I didn't tell her I was taking Albus with me. She lashed out the moment she saw him," Harry told, feeling the knot in his stomach tightening again.

"All this time I thought she hated me for ruining her career. But it was never about me, it was about Albus, and the more I kept pushing Albus towards her hoping he'd manage to bring her back the further she kept going. Sh— she told me about the meetings at Burrow."

A knowing shock spread on Hermione's face, making Harry falter a little. So she knew it too.

"I immediately went there to confirm from Molly herself. I couldn't believe you guys would do this to me. You all kept lying while I ran in circles. I— it made me snap and I took the anger out on Draco."

Hermione shuffled closer to her best friends and held his hand, "We didn't lie to you. Ron and I, we, had our suspicions but it got only confirmed now when you mentioned it. And you know Molly. It must be hard for her to see Ginny like that too."

Harry calmed down a little, letting his voice become steadier. It was true, Hermione and Ron would never lie to him, at least not about big issues. He did know that Ginny was hurting others too. All this time he'd been keeping distance from the Burrow and all the Weasleys for that very reason. He didn't want to be there to ruin their moments with Ginny. He only let them baby sit Albus for him. However, it seemed like life was never going to go right for him.

Hermione's voice brought him back from his thoughts, "So now, tell me more about Draco. You have finally realized that you like him?"

"I— I think so. I mean I don't like him like that yet, but I wouldn't have minded to, I don't know. Try?" Harry shrugged, trying his best not to get upset that he had lost the chance to try, because of his own stupidity.

Hermione smiled. She was glad Harry had finally come to his senses. As sorry as he was for what happened between him and Ginny, she was also relieved that the incident had made Harry finally realize that he needed to move on. Only problem they would have anymore was Ron freaking out, but Hermione was sure that at this point it would be merely a formality. A nod to their old rivalry.

"Well, what's the problem then? Go apologize to him, and then ask him out," Hermione told Harry, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Mione, it's not that easy! I tried to apologize already, but he wouldn't have any of it."

"He was angry then, but by now I'm sure he must've calmed down. I'm sure he would listen to you now. After all what Ron told me about Draco—"

"What did he tell you about Draco?" Harry interrupted Hermione.

"Well, I guess I could tell you," Hermione said with a sly smile, "but what do I get by telling?"

"No— nothing!" Harry spluttered.

Hermione laughed out loud, making even Ron peek out of Rose's room. "Well, I guess Ron would love to tell you all the details but for that you have to get Draco off of his back. Ron has been grumbling about Draco finding excuses to drag Ron with him to his house and then talking about you for hours and hours. He even confessed that he'd rather do paperwork for a month than tolerate Draco for another single day."

Knowing that Draco had been talking about him as much as Harry had been thinking of Draco was somehow a little relieving. It meant that perhaps he still had a slim chance to fix things.

_"Maybe ask Draco out on a date,"_ Harry thought to himself.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting this chapter so late. This was supposed to be up before New Year's. Then for New Year's. But I'm back home so it's been a bit busy with family. I'm sorry about both late update and the quality of this chapter. I promise the next one will be better.

"Sie!" Albus exclaimed in excitement, nearly butting his head against his father's.

"Yes, yes, Albus. We're going to see Hessie, Scorpius _and Draco_. Now calm down and let daddy fix your hair," Harry chuckled.

They both were excited. It had taken Harry a few more days to gather his courage and practice his apology before he felt ready to meet Draco. It was Sunday, the day of weekly check up, and the brunches. To be honest, if Narcissa hadn't invited them for the brunch, that they'd been skipping for so many weeks, then Harry would've stayed in his house for even longer to gather courage. But the neatly written letter and the conversation with Hermione had helped him make up his mind.

Narcissa had specifically told them to dress up for the brunch, but not too much. She wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for the twins on their _about_ ninth birthday. She had invited only the people closest to the Malfoys. Every time Harry thought of it he couldn't help the slight twinge of pride. He was one of the people closest to the Malfoys.

After the previous time it was easier to put the complicated robes on Albus. He tied the securing strings around his tiny limbs and then secured the flap on front with a tiny pin hiding the strings inside. Then Harry dipped his little finger in his gel and rubbed the thin layer of gel on Albus' hair making the boy even more excited. Meeting his friends was such a special occasion that his father was letting him use the thing that he fooled around with (in vain) every time they went to meet mommy. Albus sat still, barely breathing as Harry applied the gel on his hair, his eyes wide with excitement and anticipation. When Harry was done applying it Albus immediately looked around for a mirror. Harry showed Albus his tidied hair making Albus' mouth formed an o in surprise, his eyes turning even wider. 

"Aaand you're done," Harry said, putting the mirror away and resisting the urge to ruffle his son's hair. Then he set to fix his own hair. There wasn't much he could do about his unruly hair but he wanted to look good. Draco liked neat and tidy looking people.

Attempting one more time to fix his hair Harry finally gave up knowing that it was a little less horrible than it usually tended to be. Checking one last time that both of them were looking presentable Harry picked up the presents he had bought for the twins and then apparated to the manor.

Upon arriving he noticed that the whole manor had been decorated, even though Narcissa had specifically mentioned that the party was going to be just a small gathering. Then again Narcissa's scale of parties were quite different from what Harry was used to. The memories of the baby shower, Narcissa had insisted on holding at the manor because of the space issues, flashed through his mind. 

There were fairy lights intertwined with the vines crawling along the outer walls. They twinkled in various shades of blue and purple, giving the front yard a fairy forest like touch. There was a bouncing castle, that Harry recognized as Blaise's handiwork. He made custom bouncing castles making sure they fit the theme, no matter what it was. This time it was most probably fairytales, as the castle was, well, a castle, with various fairytale characters painted here and there. A long table filled with food stood in the middle of the yard, with a few guests already sprinkled around it. A huge cake in the shape of a story book, little cupcakes with animal faces on them, Lucius' mouthwatering cookies cut into muggle fairytale characters, and glasses of red liquid with apple pieces, instead of lemon, wedged on to the sides.

Harry scanned through the tiny crowd. Blaise and Pansy were already there, and so was Hermione with her family. Harry noticed Professor Snape and Lucius sitting in the gazebo, talking. Andromeda and Teddy had been invited too, after all, Narcissa was in quite good terms with them now. But Harry couldn't see Draco, the twins, or even Narcissa anywhere. Instead he was approached by his godson who had been bored beyond belief. The party was cool but there was no one his age or anyone he liked spending his time with up until Harry arrived.

"Hey!" Teddy approached them with a wide grin, holding his camera in one hand.

"Hi, Teddy!" Harry greeted him back. Harry had been worried whether he'd be over dressed for the event but seeing Teddy dressed into his special light grey robes, his hair colour changed to match them, Harry felt safe.

"How have you been? I've been traveling with friends so I haven't been able to stay in touch..." Teddy trailed of, a slight red tint to his cheeks. It was his first summer that he'd spent without Harry. While it was awesome to travel around the entire Wizarding world visiting new places and learning new things about magic in all the various places, Teddy still couldn't shake off the feeling that he was betraying his godfather by having all the fun on his own.

Harry just huffed a laugh at his godson's guilty expression. "I have been great. How about you? I didn't know you were already back from your trip?"

"I've been fine too. I came back only for the party. My friends are still in Australia," Teddy told while slowly gravitating towards the table filled with food, so Harry and Albus could get something to eat too while they'd wait for Narcissa to bring down the real stars of the evening.

"Wasn't it hard to come all the way here just for one day?" Harry asked.

"Not really, besides even if it were I'd still come back. Can't miss the chance to meet my long lost cousin along with my niece and nephew," Teddy chuckled, waving the camera in front of Harry's face.

Harry understood. As much as Teddy considered him and Albus his family, the boy still couldn't help his excitement when it came to his family by blood. Besides, Teddy was part of the younger generation, a generation that was a lot more lenient towards the people who took part in the war, a generation that was the most hyped about the legendary lost Malfoy heir. Teddy could never miss a chance to take a photo of the alleged veela-werewolf-ghost-shapeshifter cousin of his. Harry and Teddy began to talk about their past summer, mostly Teddy telling him about all the wonderful places he'd been at and playing with Albus, Harry filling him in on the whole Renaissance case in only a few sentences.

Teddy just had begun to tell about his adventures in Thailand when the main door opened revealing Narcissa, Draco and the twins. Both adults were dressed up for the party, but the twins were still clad in their father's shorts and t-shirts. Harry could easily imagine the fight the twins must've put up against Draco. At least Draco had managed to make them wear the slightly fancier of his clothes.

They seemed like Draco's clubbing clothes. Harry couldn't help his thoughts from veering to Draco, and what he would look like in the glittery shirts. Under stronger flashing lights. _(Dancing close to Harry.)_ Tearing his eyes away from his favourite Malfoy trio Harry crashed that train of thoughts right there. First he'd apologize to Draco. _Then he'd ask Draco out on a date, one date would lead to many more, each in a different place. Cafés, movies, clubs._ There was another crash before Harry's thoughts could proceed any further.

Narcissa began to round up everyone around the twins, "Welcome everyone! Today is the ninth—"

Draco whispered something to his mother who let out an amused huff and then started the announcement again, "Today is the _about_ ninth birthday of my grandchildren Hestia Jamie Lucia Malfoy and Scorpius Lewis Narcissus Malfoy!"

Draco rolled his eyes. Of course, his mother had to make things fancier than they were. At least she'd kept the guest list short. There were only the Zabinis, the Weasleys (the ones he could tolerate for more than five minutes), his cousin and Andromeda. And Harry.

It had been a little over a week since he'd moved out of the Grimmauld Place. During this time he'd come to realize how attached he had become to both Albus and Harry. His parents did keep him and the children occupied all the times. In fact Draco had had more than enough with all the visits to his parents' acquaintances. One more fancy meal and he'd burst open.

It wasn't only the food. He couldn't shake off the feeling that not all of their acquaintances were as pleased to see Draco as they pretended. Either that or they seemed to look too pleased for their own good. It was more than obvious that everyone hated Draco's reappearance but were glad to find out about his children's lack of magic. After fifteen such visits Draco quite positively missed Harry's company. It had been years since Draco had to be careful with his words and read between the lines when interacting with other people. He had to do neither with Harry. If only the man hadn't been as thick as Draco had known him to be since forever, he could've still tried his best to adjust in the guest room that was getting small for them.

He realized a little late that their eyes had locked and stayed so for a concerning amount of time. He broke the eye contact when Scorpius began to whine. They were napping when Narcissa had knocked the door and told them they needed to get ready. The twins had thrown a fit and refused to dress up in the robes Narcissa had so lovingly picked. Narcissa was about to give up but seeing his mother's smile falter, Draco came up with an idea. It took a little while and some magic before they were transformed into pairs of t-shirt and shorts similar to his clubbing clothes that the twins were more comfortable wearing. Scorpius and Hestia approved the clothes but they still hadn't approved getting out of the room.

"Dad!" Scorpius pulled at Draco's robes. He hadn't really paid attention to his Gran's announcement, "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere Scorp. We are going to be just here," Draco ruffled Scorpius' hair enjoying his son's slow perception due to sleepiness. The boy had missed all the decorations around him. Then again his little demons had inherited only fifty percent of their qualities from him.

"What's going on Dad?" Hestia joined her brother. She had finally noticed all the party arrangements, her eyes wide with wonder.

By now all the guests had already gathered around them and on Narcissa's queue they all broke into a song, making both siblings very awake and interested.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Scorp and Hessie! Happy birthday to you!"

The twins had caught on and their faces radiated with joy. For once Scorpius showed any reactions, his eyebrows shooting high and his mouth hanging open wide. Hestia began to clap along with all the guests in excitement. Narcissa lead them all to the cake, making the excited twins even more excited.

"Oooh, it's a storybook!"

"Dad, does it have pages like real books?"

"Can I eat the princess?"

"I want the wolf!"

"Yes, yes, you will get the decorations. But first we need to cut the cake," Narcissa told her excited grandchildren. She'd wanted to introduce the twins to everyone properly but the way the two sleepyheads had been whining she'd thought better of it and gotten straight to cake cutting. The twins weren't going anywhere. They had the entire evening, besides, everyone already knew them, except for Severus and their family healer, whom Narcissa had invited too. She knew he'd be delighted to see Draco after so long. After all he had been the only familiar and comforting face left in Draco's life after the war. In fact, it would be better for her to introduce the children formally later.

"Now first you have to blow the candles and make a wish," Narcissa told the twins who where staring at the cake like hungry wolves. She hoped they wouldn't wish for world peace or their own unicorn. She had asked George to cast a spell that would fulfill small wishes for toys and other trinkets.

All the guests stepped closer to watch the twins as they leaned in two blow the candles together. As everyone huddled closer against each other Harry managed to wedge his way next to Draco quite conveniently. Albus shot Draco a wide grin of recognition and then turned back towards the cake. He had his claims staked on the prince standing tall next to the princess. He tried to grab both his Daddy's and Papa's attention so they would tell Narcissa, not knowing that Narcissa had specifically put four sugar figurines, instead of two, because of Draco's request. However, both his Daddy and Papa had their attention everywhere else but the cake.

Harry could smell the faint scent on Draco. He smelled of wildflowers and lush forests. It was quite different from the way Draco used to smell when they were young, or the way he smelled after applying one of his various colognes or perfumes now. Harry liked the smell. He also liked the light cotton robes Draco was wearing. The creamy white robes made Draco's pale skin standout, shine even. Not to mention the happy twinkle in Draco's eyes when he leaned closer to Harry so he could hear what Albus was trying to tell.

Their arms were pressed against each other, the smell of flowers and trees hitting Harry harder when Draco ducked his head closer to his face.

"Hello, Harry," Draco greeted him quickly, before gently asking Albus to repeat what he was saying.

"Hi Draco," Harry greeted back, glad that every bit of hurt and anger was gone from Draco's voice. How he'd craved for the naturally amused huff Draco let out when talking to other people. The quick glance he granted Harry made his heart flutter. Harry hoped the cake cutting would be over soon so he could apologize to Draco before he'd forget what he'd practiced.

"You're looking very," Draco said between babbling with Albus, "appealing today."

It didn't come out as eloquent as Draco had hoped but he couldn't really blame himself. Harry was indeed looking very _appealing_. He was wearing dark green robes. The man had gone through the extra effort of trying to tame his hair too. He had abandoned his glasses too, opting for lenses. Draco felt his heart skip a beat at the warmth radiating from Harry's arm to his. He felt relieved that he'd dressed up in those mere fifteen minutes Narcissa had given them, despite feeling as annoyed as his children did. Although, he should've maybe taken eight chewing gums instead of four. He really hoped Harry couldn't smell the sleep in his breath. He'd even kept his head angled towards Albus thinking that the baby won't remember long enough to hold a grudge even if his breath stank.

Luckily despite his lack of eloquence, Harry seemed to appreciate the compliment. His already handsome face broke into a wide radiating smile, making Draco's heart not only skip a beat but stop besting entirely. However, Draco couldn't let the craving for Harry's company and his dashing looks sweep him off his feet. There was a reason Draco had left the Grimmauld place and if Harry hadn't come to his senses then Draco couldn't even imagine of the possible friendship between them.

A loud wave of clapping broke the bubble around the men, and they too joined the clapping. Narcissa cut a tiny piece out of the cake to feed the twins, who refused to have a bite from it before they'd get their decorations. Laughing Lucius leaned over his wife's shoulder He craned over his wife's shoulder and picked the sugar figurines. He handed the princess to Hestia, the wolf to Scorpius and the prince to Albus. Rose got the other princess. While holding to the little figures, they finally agreed to have a bite of the actual cake.

Soon all the guests had a piece of cake on their plates and they all had dispersed around again to eat and talk. Narcissa had told them before going to wake up the twins that the gift opening would take place after the eating was done, otherwise the twins would never bother to eat the cake. Or anything else for that matter. Severus and Lucius were back under the gazebo with Narcissa and Andromeda. Teddy was eating and playing with all the children while Pansy, Blaise, Ron and Hermione were doing their best not to obviously stare at the pair of men who had wandered a bit further away from rest of the guests.

It would've felt awkward to walk around with plates of cake in their hands, but both Harry and Draco were too preoccupied with each other to notice it as they slowly and aimlessly made their way around the yard.

"So—" Draco started. 

"How have you been?" Harry interrupted him.

"We've been great," Draco lied, somewhat, "And you?"

Draco's answer made Harry feel good and bad, both, at once. Good because they had been fine, bad because they had been fine without Harry and Albus.

"We've been great too," Harry lied. He wanted to tell Draco how lonely and bored and out of their minds, both him and possibly Albus too had felt. Harry didn't want to seem desperate for just anyone's company. After all, he'd just been obsessed over getting Ginny back, and now he was swooning over every little gesture of Draco's. He wanted Draco to know that he really meant this, whatever this was going to be.

"What have you two been up to? I thought you'd be back in Hogwarts already," Draco asked.

Harry hoped he hadn't imagined the relief in Draco's voice, as if he'd been scared that Harry had already left for work. "Uh, no. I mean, because of Albus I'm allowed to do most of my work at home so I go to Hogwarts on the same day with the students. What about you guys?"

"We've been lazing around. The twins really enjoy the crocheting club and helping father with baking. And mother has dragged us to way too many dinners at her acquaintances'," Draco said making Harry laugh at his frustration.

"I thought your father would be the one to drag you to such dinners since your mother already has managed to make the twins join the club."

"Father isn't exactly the person anyone would like to befriend anymore. My mother can get away with it because she helped you. I get away because of my legendary status and because my children seem to be interesting enough for everyone to ignore my involvement in the war. But father has no redeeming qualities," Draco said.

"Oh, I am sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine, there's nothing for you to apologize about. You are right. My father is the type to drag people from event to event, from dinner to dinner. But since he refuses to even try now my mother has to do it." 

Years ago saying this would've left a bitter scar, but now after years it barely stirred any emotions in Draco. Living in muggle world had caused him to distance himself from the Wizarding world and all the issues in it. Even now, when he had returned he still was living in this protective bubble he was very well aware of.

Silence fell between them. They both finally took their first bites out of their cakes. Neither knew how to get to the actual topic they wanted to talk about and be done with, without making things worse between them. Despite all the practice Harry just seemed to have forgotten everything he'd practiced for the apology. Draco was no better. He had thought of an apology and a lecture Harry deserved, but now that he was walking next to the man he couldn't remember any of the thought that had ridden his mind through everything in the past week.

They both were spared from the excruciating attempt at thinking by Narcissa. The final guest had arrived and she wanted Draco to meet him. Draco excused himself leaving Harry alone to go and greet the last guest. It had to be one of her various friends who had been already off on a trip when Draco had arrived, thus hadn't met him yet. Luckily it was only one guest. Initially his mother had wanted to invite her entire club and Merlin knows who else, but upon Draco's insistence and the risk of twins getting headaches she finally caved in. She still had insisted on two surprise guests. One of them turned out to be Severus. Draco didn't mind seeing him at all. Although the raven haired man could really tone it down with his suspicious glare. Only other special person he could think of apart from his mother's friend was Goyle. Draco wasn't sure if he should dread the meeting or be excited. Then again it didn't matter either way.

As Draco got closer he realized the newcomer was a man. However, the man was too tall and too lanky to be Goyle. He was dressed in extremely fancy embroidered robes, clearly over dressed for the simple party. His back was turned to Draco, hiding Narcissa's smaller body in front of him. The closer Draco got the taller the man seemed to get. From distance t was easy to mistake the height of the man and the width of his shoulders. In his entire life Draco had known only one man this tall and broad. However, he'd been extremely round too.

The moment Draco was only several steps away, the man's voice reached his ears making him stop in his tracks. Only then he realized that over ten years were enough time to loose weight. Draco could feel his blood boiling and freezing at once. He wanted the man to turn and prove his suspicions wrong, but he also wanted the man to keep facing the other way giving Draco a chance to run away, as fast as he could. However, as soon as Draco thought of it the man turned around, proving Draco's suspicions right, unfortunately.

Apart from the blood rushing to his head only thing Draco could hear anymore were the loud shrills of his children who must've joined him at some point because Narcissa had beckoned them to come and greet the guest too.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super sorry for being so late with this chapter. The story is starting to near its climax/end so I want to do these chapters right which for me means not having to put the whole thing on hold again to fix a few chapters.
> 
> Hope you guys like it!

Harry was the first one to react when the twins got yet another bout of headache. Just like Draco he too kept a bottle of the yellow potion, that Hermione had given them, with him wherever he went. In the urgency of the situation he didn't realize that Draco hadn't even turned around. In fact, no one did. Everyone was busy fussing over the twins.

Draco could see his mother stepping around the tall man to see what had happened to her grandchildren, so did his father. Behind him he could feel the tense energy coming from all the guests who were flocked around only a life's steps away from him. He could hear Pansy and Blaise trying to calm everyone down, even send some of the guests away. But through everything his eyes remained glued to Mr. Morris, the former family healer of the Malfoys.

He knew he should try to calm down or he'll end up making it harder for his own children but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't calm down when Mr. Morris was standing right in front of him. Out of all the things that were happening around him only things he actually registered were Scorpius' pain and the piercing pair of icy blue eyes staring back at him. He could feel how his eyes prickling with tears. The last thing as everything went hazy in front of him was the wide leer and the amused glint in Mr. Morris' eyes. It got etched into his memory like the smile of the Cheshire Cat, before he too hit the ground with a loud thud.

\----- ----- -----

This was the second time Harry was sitting by the bedside waiting for Draco to wake up. The twins were resting in another room with Hermione and Pansy looking over them. Rest of the guests had either left or were busy looking after the Malfoys. Andromeda and Teddy had taken Albus with them, Ron had taken Rose back home, Blaise was with Lucius and Narcissa. Mr. Morris, the former family healer, was with them too. He had offered to watch over Draco, since his abilities wouldn't be of much use with the twins. But in the end he hadn't much to do so Blaise took him away to check up on Narcissa who was in a state of shock.

Seeing Draco laying on the ground made Harry understand better why Narcissa had been so worried when Draco had fainted the first time. It happened so suddenly. One moment Draco had left Harry with a smile to go meet Mr. Morris and the next everything was a chaos. He could still feel his heart beating hard. He hadn't even noticed it before Mr. Morris alerted them all.

He sighed and shifted in the armchair. An hour had already passed and Draco was still unconscious. Just then there was a silent knock on the door. Harry turned around to see Lucius step in through the door.

"Is he still unconscious?" He asked, his face emotionless, except for the twitch of his jaw.

"Yes. Pansy should be soon back to check," Harry told the older man.

"Has he talked to you about it?" Lucius asked.

"About what?"

"Flashbacks," Lucius explained curtly.

"No, he hasn't," Harry lied, not really knowing why, "I would've told Pansy or Narcissa if he had."

"I see." Lucius turned his gaze back at his son.

Harry turned to look at the sleeping man too. If it weren't for the sick paleness of Draco's skin he could have rivaled the sleeping beauty. His brown curls had fallen around his head like a halo. There was a thin line of blond at the hairlines, the roots of his hair growing back in their natural colour and shape. His pointy featured soft and relaxed. Harry could see a few too many crows feet on his face. Draco wasn't really that old, but Harry could easily imagine each and every line being drawn onto his skin as each stressful event in Draco's life weighed him down. Everyone who had lived through the war had a sign or two or way many more of aging. Not amount wise but experience wise. The war had forced them all to grow up sooner than they should have.

Thinking of the war reminded Harry of sixth year. Now that he thought about it, Draco had looked worn out, continuously tired and sickly pale then too. He had looked the same even on eighth year, Harry realized. In sixth year Harry had been too focused on spying on Draco to notice it, and on eighth year he'd tried to avoid Draco so much that he'd missed it then too. Thinking of eighth year made him feel like he had seen Draco laying like this, a soft light giving a little life to his skin making it seem almost golden.

The fleeting memory was gone as soon as it appeared, leaving Harry slightly baffled. The memory was rather specific for Harry's liking. That year Molly had of course invited him, tried to even insist, that he spend the Christmas at the Burrow but Harry couldn't take it that year. He preferred getting drunk with his former rival over the forced Christmas cheer to make everyone forget the war. That was the only time he'd spent time with Draco in their eighth year. As far as he remembered after that night he'd had high fever for the rest of the vacation and when he finally woke from the daze the first person he remembered seeing was Madam Pomfrey.

Since Lucius didn't seem to be moving anytime soon Harry got up and excused himself. Most probably worrying over Draco was doing things to his brains. He needed a break and he wanted to check up on the twins. Besides Albus needed him home.

"Are you going to see the twins?" Lucius asked.

"Yes. I should go home to Albus so I'll just check up on the twins before I leave."

Harry bid farewell to Lucius, promising to return the following day. Before leaving the room he cast one last glance at the Draco. He was laying as still as ever. To be honest Harry didn't want to leave. Perhaps he could ask Narcissa if the manor could accommodate two more people.

Harry didn't need to go far to find the room he needed, which was a relief. He'd been to the manor many times but he'd never really ventured deep. The corridors and hallways were still a little confusing for him. The twins were in Draco's old nursery which was only two rooms away from Draco's actual room. Harry knocked the door and cracked it open only a fraction. He noticed that Hermione had already left too, leaving Pansy alone with the children.

"Hi," Harry whispered, poking his head into the room.

"Hey," Pansy smiled seeing Harry, "Here to see the twins?"

"Yeah, wanted to see them once before I leave," Harry whispered.

"They're still sleeping, but you can stop whispering. Hermione's potions work wonders so they won't wake up anytime soon even if you played air horns next to their ears."

Harry chuckled and entered the room. The twins were curled up next to each other on the large bed not taking much space, really, despite being nine years already. Harry couldn't believe they had already grown up so much. It felt as if just the day before Draco had been screaming death threats at him on top of his lungs. If only he'd had the realization with everyone eating cake and enjoying the party, instead of having all the Malfoys in various states of shock.

"They have grown up a lot, haven't they?" Pansy asked, similar thoughts going through her mind as well.

"In a blink of an eye," Harry agreed.

"Quite literally," Pansy snorted.

Harry took a seat on the chair Hermione had left empty. "How are they now?"

"Physically they are fit as fiddles. They are still growing in the same pace as they were before, but I can't tell much about their mental state yet. They need to wake up for it," Pansy said. Despite the cheer in her voice Harry could hear the worry. She looked tired too, her make up slightly smeared and her hairdo only in place because of the spells she had cast.

"I'm sure they will be fine. I mean they have already been through this twice. Hermione had said that other patients go through these way more often than the twins do," Harry tried to assure Pansy.

"That's the problem," Pansy pinched the bridge of her nose, "The bouts of memory should come often and only cause migraine at worse. But they are going through so much worse. The pain is excruciating for normal patients, I can't even begin to imagine how bad they have it."

Harry had never had migraines, but even normal headache was bad enough for him. If just a headache could make him grumpy and moody, even unapproachable according to some, then surely the twins crying was only a small sign of all the pain they felt.

"And then there's Draco," Pansy continued.

"Draco?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about this to anyone, but you're you so just don't tell Hermione I told you anything," Pansy looked at him expectantly, as if "you're you" was enough of a reason for her to share confidential information.

"I won't," Harry assured her. He had learnt to know Pansy enough to know that she wouldn't go around opening her mouth if there was no reason for it.

"I'm worried about Draco," Pansy got straight to the point, "Although it has been only twice, both I and Hermione think that it's too much of a coincidence that Draco fainted only when Scorp and Hess stared crying."

Now that Pansy mentioned it, it indeed was too much of a coincidence that Draco fainted when the twins had the Renaissance headaches. The first time it happened Draco had mentioned the crying. But Harry had seen both Hestia and Scorpius cry so many times, it never affected Draco. He didn't even get worried like Harry. Draco would just lazily get up and stroll to the crying children and talk to them in a soothing voice to calm them down. But then there were the flashbacks too.

"Maybe it was the gazebo. Narcissa, Lucius and Mr. Morris were by the gazebo. Perhaps he had gotten another flashback," Harry reminded.

Pansy shook her head, "Even then. There are too many things wrong with all three of them."

Harry couldn't disagree to that, although if Draco had had something to hide then he wouldn't have been so open, vocal and careless about it. Harry told as much to Pansy.

"Are you for real, Potter?" she rolled her eyes, "Draco has never been discreet about anything. That's what made him so good at lying. He would tell you aliens abducted him even though he clearly stood right in front of you all the time, and yet you would feel obliged to believe him. When he decides to not talk about something you don't bring it up. But it doesn't mean he hides it good. He could barely hide his crush for you."

"Crush for me?" Harry asked, earning another stare full of disbelief from Pansy.

"Entire school knew he liked you."

"Why didn't I ever find out then?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. Draco used to have a crush _on him_? If there was any way of describing them back in their younger years then Draco was the jerk playboy from romantic novellas who still attracted everyone's attention and Harry looked like the nerd whom people only loved in those anti-bullying movies.

"That's why it was a crush. Not love. I'd bet my life that if you'd found out about his crush Scorp and Hess would've been your children and Albus would've been his," Pansy deadpanned.

Harry tried to search for signs of jest on her face but she looked serious. Harry knew how romance and family planning worked between two wizards but still the idea of their current setting being something permanent made his heart flutter even though it shouldn't have. 

"If everyone knew then why didn't anyone tell me?" Harry asked.

"I told you already, if Draco wanted to keep something hidden it would stay hidden even if it was obvious to rest of the world. And clearly he hasn't changed in that aspect at all."

"What do you mean he hasn't changed in that aspect?" Harry asked, choosing to ignore the whole crush thing for now. It was too much to process at the moment.

"Did you really believe him when he told us purebloods pop out orbs?"

"Of course I—" Harry started but then stopped. He hadn't, in fact, even thought about it after hearing it for the first time in the hospital.

"That's what I meant when I said about Draco being able to keep supposed secrets as secrets even if someone printed them down into all the world's fortune cookies."

"I don't think there's anything big he's hiding. After all the twins are growing up just fine. If there was some problem I'm sure being an orb would have caused complications to Scorp's treatment," Harry said, remembering to avoid the phrase 'orb form' because it annoyed Draco so much. There was no reason for him to defend Draco like that, specially when Pansy was right. But Harry still felt a little protective. Surely Draco wouldn't go around lying to him.

"That's exactly why we can't do anything about him. Only reason we have let his stupid excuses pass is because there's nothing that we can use to corner him. Scorpius was an orb, but he is growing up as a completely normal human. Hestia was a completely normal muggle when she was born, a squib, but she suddenly has a magical core. Both their magic has been growing stronger and stronger yet they never use it. Not a single trace of magic on them. And now these headaches and Draco's fainting," Pansy kept talking and dissecting this weird case she was dealing with, "Hardly any of them have any normal explanation but nothing this far has caused enough concern for us to be able to question him."

"You could ask him about these fainting spells he has had," Harry tried to help Pansy who was getting more and more excited with each word.

"I already thought of it, and I will. However, knowing Draco he will get away with it." Pansy let out a frustrated sigh. Then she suddenly perked up again, "Anyway, I've kept you here long enough. You should go back home."

"Oh it's alright."

"Of course it is. I never apologized," Pansy leered at Harry.

"Right. Well, I should get going. Good bye," Harry got up to leave.

"Good bye. And thank you for letting me ramble," Pansy said to his retreating back.

 

By the time Albus fell asleep Harry was tired. He did try to work. There was only a day less than a week left for him finish the essays and prepare for the coming school year. However, he couldn't get Draco out of his mind. Ever since Draco had stormed into his life everything had turned upside down. Every week something left Harry confused or shaken. Also, he couldn't believe that he had ignored so many things about them all. Ever since they had arrived even sleep had been evading him. By now Harry had lost count on how many nights he'd spent tossing and turning like tonight. Not that he had slept any better before, but the reason had never been a charming single father with his adorable children. With a frustrated groan Harry squeezed his eyes too try and force himself to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chapter ended up a little abruptly, but I wanted to leave the rest for the next chapter.
> 
> Also thanks to all of you patient people for sticking around. All of your encouragements mean a lot to me ^_^!


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super sorry for vanishing yet again after promising more stable update schedule. I should stop promising stuff... I really have no excuse except running out of ideas. I wasn't sure how to proceed with the story as the story has gone completely off the rail. This was supposed to be a romantic comedy not a bunch of Mysteries even I don't know the answer to. Like this fic has more questions than world's hardest entrance exams most probably have. The struggle shows in the length and quality. Sorry about that. Like for real. The more the story's going on the worse I'm feeling for you guys who are encouraging me on so excitedly.
> 
> Well at least I'm able to post something today on international fanworks' day :)
> 
> Okay, I know, I know. That doesn't make things any better but hey... Happy international fanworks' day :D! Consumers enjoy consuming fanworks and leaving nice feedback to everyone, and creators go create that fanwork you've been itching to create and have fun while doing it ^_^!

Harry wasn't sure which flowers he should buy for Draco, or if Draco was a flower person at all. He'd considered a present that would align with his hobbies, but Harry wasn't sure what motocross or parkour related things one could buy for an ill person. He'd considered chocolate too but then began to second guess it. It would be a bit too romantic. As much as he wanted to ask Draco on a date he couldn't get his conversation with Pansy out of his head. Besides this wasn't the right time anyway.

He'd spent the whole night trying to find something that would explain it all but to no avail. The more he thought about it the more mysterious Draco began to seem. On top of it Harry couldn't shake off the traces of the weird memory. Every time he'd try to remember it nothing came to his mind and whenever he tried to think of something else the memory would resurface. He'd remember worrying bits and pieces of conversation both him and Draco had had. They had talked about exams, exploding cakes and scary toys. He remembered laying next to Draco, the earlier memory of Draco's skin glowing golden from the light of the fireplace. After that his memory faded out, except for the distant taste of bitter potions and echoes of Madam Pomfrey's voice.

The florists gasp brought Harry back from his thoughts, Albus was attempting to stuff his face with some weird flowers. While reprimanding him for eating things he shouldn't, Harry paid for the flower assembly the florist had suggested to him after seeing him stare at the roses like he was trying to set them on fire. He let Albus hold the flowers tightly against his tiny body while Harry himself was balancing him in one hand and a heavy bag full of the twins' favourite snacks in another. Harry apparated to the manor grounds earning an excited squeal from his son. While checking his appearance he kept alternating between confronting Draco and letting things slide just this once. Still arguing with himself Harry entered the manor.

Any desire to confront the other man flew out the window the moment Harry stepped into the hallway where Draco's room and old nursery were. The older Malfoy's were standing behind Ron and Hermione rather cluelessly. Ron was standing in front of the door, the light from the bedroom illuminating his freckled face. He looked strangely focused, like he did when he tried to think of the next step when he tried to disarm a dangerous witch or wizard. The first witch or wizard Harry could think of needing disarming was Draco. He must've woken up before the twins and thrown yet another hissy fit out of sheer protectiveness. If anyone was to be compared to a lioness protecting its cub it should've been Draco.

Dropping the bag of snacks Harry quickened his steps making Albus bob up and down because of the brisk steps. His walk came to a halt because of the protective shield Ron had cast around himself leaving everyone else out.

"What's going on?" Harry asked to no one in particular. He was pulled further away by Hermione.

"Harry you shouldn't be here, not with Albus!" Hermione hissed to him, a panicked edge in her voice worrying Harry.

Right that moment there was a loud boom that seemed to shake the entire manor. Harry watched as Ron rolled away right before a big grey lump flew past them and hit the wall opposite to the door. It was the Malfoy family healer. Harry couldn't believe that Draco would get so protective over his children that he'd crash the poor man against the wall.

"Draco!" He shouted out. He would have tried to push through the barrier even though he knew it would be useless, but he couldn't because of Albus.

"Harry calm down! It's not Draco. It's the twins," Hermione told him. As if on queue, Narcissa began to sob.

"What do you mean it's the twins?" Harry asked, baffled.

"I don't know how to say this but," Hermione confessed, "I was supposed to come here later to check up on them all, but I got a call from Lucius. Ron was with me so we came together. The twins were screaming and cursing at healer Morris. They'd even been throwing things at him according to Lucius. They tried to calm Scorpius and Hestia but in vain. Every time healer Morris tried to approach Draco they got violent."

"Why the barrier? I'm sure we are enough to tackle a pair of children," Harry asked, but then he realized that the headache could have triggered yet another growth spurt in them. He remembered Scorpius from his first visit. The boy was as tall as his father, a typical trait for the Malfoy lineage. And if Harry wasn't wrong Hestia was rather tall too, though not as much as her father and brother. If they had grown back over night it certainly would be harder to stop them.

"Have they grown up?" Harry asked Hermione, who shook her head.

"No," Hermione said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "They are doing wandless magic."

For the first time since arriving Harry could sense how scared Hermione actually was. Her eyes flitted Ron's way every few seconds. She wasn't just scared of what was happening she was worried too. Ron being one of the best aurors Harry knew, meant that the situation was far worse than what Hermione had described, as if an unconscious healer and an auror ready to fight two children wasn't bad in its simplest form.

While wandless magic wasn't all that unusual, specially in magical children who kept doing accidental wandless magic all the time, something in the way Hermione told Harry about their magic felt very ominous. Not that it wouldn't have been any less worrying without it.

Draco had claimed both of the twins were squibs. Unless there was a way for magic to stay dormant for such a long time without any side effects, there was no way Draco couldn't have been aware of their magical abilities. And even if Draco was unaware the magical quill at Hogwarts should have known. This far it hadn't really missed any children, and to miss someone of Malfoy lineage seemed highly unlikely. But if Draco was aware of their magic then it raised a bunch of questions Harry didn't want to think of. There was already so much to deal with that he'd been postponing. 

"So?" Harry said, keeping himself from jumping to various conclusions his mind was coming up with, "Children do that often. Perhaps their magic has been dormant."

"Harry they were performing complicated combat spells," Hermione told him, "And despite their bodies still growing, I think their memories are back. They are their real selves again. You should have seen the fire and anger in their eyes. They were acting like ferocious animals trying to protect their offspring."

A bolt of light flashed through the air. Luckily Ron dodged it right in time. The deadly bolt bore into the wall just a little above the unconscious healer. Harry saw Ron prepare for a counterattack. He had to stop Ron because they needed to get the healer out of the shield first. And because Harry didn't want any harm to befall on the twins. He shoved Albus into Hermione's arms and tried to push through the shield but he couldn't get through. Before he could try again, or be wiser and use some sort of spell he felt a pair of arms stronger than Hermione's pulling him back. Lucius had recovered from his shock and was pulling him away.

"I have tried that. Even the mightiest spells aren't working. He can't even hear us. I think the children have cast another shield over Weasley's barrier," Lucius told Harry while keeping a firm grip on Harry.

Both Harry and Hermione were shocked. It explained why Ron was prepared for combat instead of getting the healer away from the scene.

"What do you mean they have cast another shield?! Ron!" Hermione tried to shout to her husband.

Harry looked back at where his friend was standing. Ron had already begun to cast counter spells while rest of them were standing unable to do anything. Then it occurred to Harry.

"Has anyone called other aurors yet?" He asked Hermione.

"I did. I called them as soon as Ron cast his shield."

"How long has it been since then?"

"I don't know, but I think they should be here soon."

As if on queue, Harry could hear the other aurors. Right before his eyes Ron shifted his pose ever so slightly to get ready for the final move.

*****

The pain was excruciating. But then again it was meant to be. He'd cast that spell so that no matter how brain dead he was he would wake up from the pain. Besides over the years he'd tweaked the spell without telling the twins to anticipate their thoughts. Despite her all-over-the-place and happy-go-lucky nature Hestia was the one with a martyr complex, while Scorpius had a death wish going on whenever he faced a risky situation. He had tweaked the spell to induce pain whenever his son got a stupid idea or his daughter felt like being the martyr. Usually it was very just an annoying pinprick when they'd feel upset but now he could feel the pain being induced by both of them at the strongest intensity. Of course unknowingly. Neither of them would ever risk their father's life. If the pain wasn't about to knock him out again he would've lamented over how pathetic of a father he was.

He gasped for air when the pain spread from his left arm towards his chest. He could feel arms trying to push him back. He even felt the needle pushing through his skin. A part of his brain felt relief. Whatever was I the needle would end the pain, but another part made him laugh. It wouldn't end until he would make it end. With a lot of effort he muttered the words under his breath, making the pain lessen. He couldn't let it stop. He could feel it as an annoying throbbing on his arm. Merlin knew his tattoo would be ruined now but first things first. He needed to see the twins. But at first he needed to let his muscles relax a little. He'd never managed to tweak that part. He flopped back on the pillow, his eyes were still closed. He could hear people rushing about. Somebody was telling someone else "Draco Malfoy is awake". It wasn't until he heard the word arrest that he flung his eyes open.

The lights of the room blinded him for a moment. As his eyes adjusted he saw Ron standing in front of him with another auror Draco didn't recognize. All the healers except one very stiff looking healer had left. Draco cracked a smile as best as he could with the aching face muscles.

"Hey Weasley, didn't think you'd b by my bedside waiting for me to wake up. I thought it was my children's thing to do."

It was hard to come up with anything smarter when every cell of one's body was aching. Ron looked as unamused as Draco thought he should look. Draco began to seriously think what could have been wrong. It was hard. He still felt groggy from the unconsciousness and the pain. The click that followed rang in his ears painfully. The metal around his wrist felt colder than it should have.

"We are here to arrest you," He told Draco. The little bit of friendship they had formed was gone from his voice.

The last thought on Draco's mind before they apparated away was about the twins.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking a long while again. This time I did work on the chapter a lot but each time I read through it it didn't feel right. I'm finally glad with the chapter and I hope you guys will like it too ^_^!

If he hadn't felt so groggy and horrible he would've put up a fight. But he was still having trouble focusing his sight and the throbbing felt horrible. Even more so because it had shifted to his head. They hadn't given him even a single moment after regaining consciousness. He was terribly hungry, his throat felt like the raspiest sandpaper and, oh Merlin, his head. The pin pricks began at the finger tips of his left arm and continued all the way to the tip of his head numbing him. They hadn't even bothered to let him change, he was wearing the hospital gown, revealing his once such white smooth skin now covered in tattoos.

Ron's auror partner had left the room to get Draco something to eat and drink ages ago and still hadn't returned, meanwhile Ron openly and rather aggressively stared at his tattoos. His eyes roaming into particular direction so often that with a deep sigh Draco ended up throwing his arm on the table for Ron to confirm the existence of his dark mark creatively fused with the smoky vines around it. It made Ron stop staring at him but the tension in the room was still there. Which was annoying. A room full of tension is always an awful place to be in. When the reason of the tension is known it feels only uncomfortable, but when the reason isn't known it gets terrifying and annoying. He could feel the tension, almost imagine it like a big blob around them but he didn't know what to do with it.

Last thing Draco remembered was walking with Harry and taking a bite of the cake. It was disturbing how sick he got from eating something sweet, given that he loved sweets. He'd ended up in a hospital! And then there was this arrest. Draco tried to think what could have possibly put the stupid weasel on red alert but he couldn't come up with anything apart from his war crimes. He could have easily blurted something after fainting. He did have a tendency for sleep talking, although he wasn't sure if it worked when unconscious. Even if he did say something, it had been almost two decades since the war. Would they really throw him in Azkaban now? If they would Draco needed to notify the Joneses. Sarah should be able to deal with all the paperwork. Last thing they needed was for either muggles or wizards and witches to find out about them all. John would take care of the twins for the remaining treatment. This way John would finally even get the chance to see the British part of the Wizarding world.

"You know you can just write war criminal in the papers and call it a day. This whole interrogation is utterly unnecessary and I am starving. Just bring me some food and let me talk to Hessie and Scorp. After that you won't even need to escort me I'll help myself to Azkaban," Draco said as nonchalantly as he could.

Ron looked up from the papers he'd been going through, "Who said anything about war crimes?"

"Why else would you drag me out of St. Mungos in my hospital gown if it wasn't something as bad as a war crime?"

"There are other horrible things, besides we haven't officially arrested you. Yet," Ron confessed.

A bad feeling began to gnaw his mind. Up until then he'd thought the arrest was related to his old crimes. But it could be easily be something else, he had way too many reasons to get arrested. Perhaps the twins had gotten in trouble. He should've realized it faster, after all he had woken up because of the connection being so strong. Initially he'd thought the twins might be trying to cover for him, which wouldn't have helped the situation but he knew his children and their very Malfoy like loyalty for their family. Draco tried to remember what could have had happened before everything went black but the throbbing was driving him mad. No matter what the reason was, Draco knew he they all were in deep trouble because when the Malfoys got into trouble they got into it together and the trouble tended to be of a colossal level.

Despite the hunger and thirst Draco became overly alert and worried. Various scenarios of what could have happened played through his mind. But before he'd jump to any conclusions he had to get a general idea of what he was dealing with.

"If you haven't arrested me then why am I here?" He asked while trying to put up a show of being surprised. "And where are the twins anyway?"

Unfortunately working as an auror had taught Ron to get a hang of any person pretty fast, specially guarded people like Malfoy. He saw straight through the act and adapted a sharp tone.

"They are right now under our custody too. But not officially. Nobody but my auror partner knows. And it will remain that way unless you force us to make it an actual _and_ open case."

Surprising.

"Why isn't the whole department alerted?" Draco asked hoping he wasn't pushing his luck too much. Ron's ashen face was enough of an answer for him.

He tried to ask something else, "Why are my children under custody?" Ron would have to answer that. After all, as a parent Draco had the right to know what was being done to his children.

Ron didn't even bother to look up at him.

Draco tried again, "Auror Weasley, care to explain why my children are under your custody?"

Ron glanced at him, his eyes filled with anger but didn't answer.

Ron wanted to wait for his partner. If the twins in their real age, which still was very young, could perform such complicated magic, then who could tell how powerful Malfoy's magic was. After all he had been one of the best students back in the day. In fact, Ron should've been suspicious of Malfoy's muggle style life for far longer than he had been. Malfoy's possible unknown abilities were the reason Ron didn't want him to get too worked up. It had been hard enough to deal with the children on his own. There was no guarantee he would be able to hold up against Malfoy if the man did actually have the nerve to use forbidden magic.

"They will be brought to you only if you cooperate," Ron relented, biting his tongue to stop himself from shouting at Malfoy that it was a lie, that he would see to it that they don't get out of it easily. Draco had been forgiven once but clearly he hadn't learnt his lessons of not partaking in shady activities. It took Ron all his self control to keep himself from doing it despite sitting face to face with the man who had let his dangerous children roam around freely in their houses. Ron couldn't begin to even think what would have happened if the twins had used their magic around little Albus, or Merlin forbid, around his daughter and wife.

Earlier experience had taught Draco that waiting to meet his children was always the easiest way. It saved him the pain in his knuckles from punching black eyes. Luckily, it didn't take long for Ron's partner to be back. He silently left the food and the drink in front of Draco who, however, didn't feel hungry or thirsty anymore. Ron had finally put the files and papers aside and was now boring holes into Draco with his angry stare.

Finally he opened his mouth and began to tell Draco about the incident, the week following it, when they had moved Draco to St. Mungos for safety reasons to wait for him to regain consciousness, and all the things he and the twins were accused of. With each sentence Draco felt a boulder in his stomach growing bigger and bigger, leaving no space for breathing, let alone for food. By the time Ron was done Draco was pale as a sheet. Things were far worse than he'd thought they would be. He'd never thought the twins would recognize the healer, or perhaps it was the link. It could work both ways if the distress was far too big on Draco's side. He was so tired of the link. And in general the facade of living a normal life.

Draco dropped his gaze to the clenched fists in his lap. The sudden attack on the children after Harry's visit made much more sense now. But it shouldn't have been possible. He'd taken care of the healer with his own two hands. He'd made sure that the bastard wasn't breathing anymore. Killed him in the most brutal way possible, definitely dirtied his _own_ two hands. He hadn't done anything as brutal even when he was under the terror of the Dark Lord. He'd made sure that nothing could ever get his children. That they would never get hurt like he and Vesta had.

Ron let out a loud sigh expecting Draco to hurry with whatever his answer was going to be but Draco couldn't care less about his time management. The realization was too much for him. He felt tears pooling up in his eyes, his throat stung and he felt the first tremors shake his body.

"Malfoy we don't have the entire day—" Ron began, but was promptly stopped when Draco began to sniff and tremble harder. He couldn't believe the man would resort to such low acts. Being a jaded auror Ron didn't even let women get away with such act of crying.

Apart from the guilt and fear Draco also felt ashamed. He felt ashamed that he had let himself take it easy. That he had let himself believe that _he_ was ever going to get a happy ending. After all he was a Malfoy, and Malfoys were doomed to suffer and as a cherry on the top he was _the_ Malfoy with all the wrong choices and the blood of so many people in his hands. The blood of the bloody healer. The memories of the party began to return to him. And so did the last thing he'd seen before fainting.

The memory made Draco cry even harder. He wanted the earth to swallow him whole and let it all just to end. Although even if t was possible Draco wouldn't let that happen because he was responsible of two other lives. The thought of his children being left alone while the monster was still roaming alive made him get himself together again. Wiping his tears away he looked up at Ron only to see relief on the man's face. Probably relief of not having to deal with a crying Malfoy. Draco would have laughed at Ron under other circumstances for that. After all he was going to wipe the relief off of his face right now.

"It's not forbidden magic," He said, cursing the slight waver in his voice, "It's a form of tribal magic."

"What do you mean by tribal magic?" Ron asked. His partner began to make notes.

"Tribal magic, Weasley. The one that tribes outside of Great Britain perform. This particular form has its roots from Asia. It is a little modified with the knowledge from books written by the very first witches to live openly among muggles in the Mediterranean region." Draco told him matter of factly. In his mind he was already apologizing to John.

"And how do they know anything about tribal magic?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because they were taught?"

"Who taught them?

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does! Those spells they were casting weren't any simple spells children cast. Those spells could've cost the healer his life!"

_Now._

"Well, if he cared for his life so much he wouldn't have had the nerve to come to the party."

"What do you mean by that?" Ron asked.

He had managed to gauge Ron's interest.

"The twins aren't used to outsiders to be honest. I've had to keep them shielded from the world for most of the time you know? And specially when a hostile person gets anywhere near them or me, the twins tend to get a little over the top."

"Are you implying that Mr. Morris would have approached you with hostile intentions?"

"Perhaps you should know that he _volunteered_ to be our healer after the war."

"Malfoy, could you refrain from jumping from one thing to another? No matter how much time you buy yourself both you and your _children_ are going to Azkaban," Ron snapped.

Draco wanted to kill Ron ten times over for using the tone he did when he mentioned the twins. He made it sound like they were abominations. But ignoring Ron he continued, "The only reason he volunteered was because he understood our situation. He was stuck in it too, unable to continue with his old clients or get new ones. Unable to continue a normal life—"

"Nearly every slytherin at the time was in the same position."

"—but despite working for us deep down he hated me, which became evident when he couldn't welcome my pregnancy."

Draco watched as the other auror halted his writing to look up at Draco. Even the stern glare Ron had been giving him had lost some of its intensity.

"Your pregnancy?"

" _I_ gave birth to the twins. That's why I left Hogwarts without graduating. I started to show. The loose robes hide the baby bump only for so long."

Draco had to fight the urge to laugh at Ron's disturbed face. He knew that Ron knew how reproduction between two wizards worked, every pureblood wizard and witch knew, but clearly the man had trouble imagining him walking around with a bloated stomach. 

"So Mr. Morris couldn't accept that you were in a relationship with a wizard and became pregnant with the children of the said wizard."

"Sort of. He didn't have a problem with me having a physical relationship with another wizard. He just couldn't accept the said wizard or his spawn so to say."

"I see. And what about the wizard? Clearly your relationship didn't last."

"There was no relationship, just a one night stand."

"Alright. Have you ever informed the father?"

"No."

"He doesn't know about the children?"

"I guess he would have found out eventually but the healer didn't really let me stick around for that long."

"So everything about your wife is a lie?"

"No. I met her soon after leaving. She mostly helped me out at first but then we fell in love and got married."

"And she was aware of your magic?"

"Yes."

"Why tribal magic in particular?"

"Why not?"

"Malfoy, I'm warning you."

"Most of the tribal magic forms are wandless and don't require being schooled extensively the way we had to be. I didn't really have any wands to give to the twins or a school to drop them off at every year."

"Why didn't you just return?"

"And risk the lives of my family?"

"I am sure that Mr. Morris has gotten over it over the years. I mean your children are legally adults now. Surely he wouldn't hold a grudge this long."

"The current state of my children is enough of a proof of a conservative pureblood wizard's ability to hold a grudge."

"You mean—"

"The Renaissance."

"What makes you think that it was Mr. Morris. It could be someone related to Harry. You blamed Harry for it yourself."

"That's the point, Weasley," Draco started and upon seeing the baffled look on Ron's face he continued, "Which wizard do you think could have enough power to father an orb? Which wizard do you think I'd keep my children away from at any cost? Or an old droopy slytherin would hate? Or an old droopy wizard would try to harm?"

"Can you drop the cryptic speech?"

"Harry. It's Harry. I slept with him and got knocked up. Didn't tell him because I feared that I'd be seen as a gold digger trying to recover our status through him. And I didn't want him to take my children away from me. Mr. Morris might be quite charmed by the current state of things but back then he was very bitter over the loss. And I got the bad end of his bitterness. After all I was the one who kept Harry's identity a secret and changed sides at the most crucial moment. Then as a cherry on the top I got pregnant with his children. As if to mock him, or so he thought. Since he couldn't do anything to Harry he started threatening me. He threatened to reveal it to the press. Eventually it became too hard for me to live under such conditions so I left the entire Wizarding world after making sure I'd wiped away all traces of my pregnancy he could use as a proof."

"This doesn't make any sense! If he had the chance to hurt Harry why would he choose to hurt you?"

"Because if you haven't noticed, everyone is awestruck and somewhat frightened by Harry. But not us. We weren't really liked to start with. Admired and envied perhaps but never liked. And ever since the war pretty much every slytherin out there hates me for what I did. To everyone else I have turned into a funny urban legend with all the bloody veela theories. But specially the older purebloods hate me. They'd deal with the traitor before the enemy if they only could get anywhere near me."

Ron was about to continue when his phone rang. When the call was over he got up. "We can't continue this any longer right now. You will remain under arrest until we get to the root of this but we will relocate the children back to Grimmauld place."

"Despite the risk that they might kill your dear golden boy?" Draco asked snarkily, despite deep down feeling glad. No one but Harry would be able to protect them.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Hold it ferret. It could have been worse. Your children could have been sentenced for lifetime in Azkaban. You're lucky you played the Harry's offspring card. Don't think this is the first someone has tried it. Nevertheless they will be tested. Since Grimmauld place is the most ideal place for them regarding their health they'll be sent there. But there will be aurors to keep an eye on them and needed precautions would be taken. After the tests and the treatment they will be brought back. You have merely bought yourself some time, nothing you said lets you off the hook for all these mysteries you're trying to hide.

Draco nodded stiffly. That's all he needed. A little bit of time. If the twins had at least mentally grown back they'd figure out what to do. Besides Draco knew that if anyone could protect them then it was Harry. He watched as Ron and his auror partner left the room leaving him there to wait for them for who knows how long. 

Getting out of the room, Ron gave two other aurors instructions to first search the entire department and then help his partner in searching for the escapees outside. The whole case was getting more and more frustrating the more time passed anyway, they did not need this right now. He walked briskly down the corridor to the isolated cell where he had kept the twins. Once in front of the door he could hear the muffled voices of his wife and Hestia. He pushed the door open only to see Hestia huddled in a corner, tears running down her face making her resemble her father. She did indeed have a skin tone and thick messy mane very similar to Harry's despite her very Malfoy like features. Hermione was standing a few feet away from her trying to coax her away from the corner like one would coax out a feral cat.

Upon noticing Ron she turned to him forgetting he girl behind her. "Oh Ron! I am so sorry! I don't know what happened. I thought the bracelets were supposed to stop them from doing magic. But somehow Scorpius managed to apparate away with Mr. Morris."

"Mione calm down. I already sent my partner and a few other aurors to look for them. Just tell me did you see Scorpius take the bracelet off?"

"No I didn't. In fact the bracelet was still on his hand when it happened. They were both huddling in that corner when we entered. We decided to each focus on one of them so we could be done faster. Mr. Morris had spent the entire evening yesterday going through all the tests we were supposed to perform today during the check up. One moment he had managed to make Scorpius stand up and head towards the chair and the other moment Scorpius had somehow managed to latch himself on Mr. Morris' neck and threatened me if I tried to do anything before apparating away."

Ron didn't answer. It was impossible for Scorpius to apparate anywhere from inside the department. Neither could the healer do it. They had warded the place against apparating unless there was a specific permission in which case the wards would have been altered. There was no way either of them could have altered the wards since the last altering when Ron had brought Draco in. Unless...

"Mione we need to check something. Could you quickly go to Hogwarts, he must be at work right now."

In any other situation the case would have been handled the way a case should be handled. But when it was about his best friend anything could be possible and the last thing they needed was for others to get involved. Ron had just gotten messages from his partner and the other aurors that they couldn't find the two anywhere. His further instructions to them was to keep looking unless he told them otherwise, he would talk to Kingsley about the sudden change in their respective daily routines.

Meanwhile Hermione had somehow managed to get a swab sample from Harry and return with all her equipment to the department. She was in fact almost done. Now they just had to wait for the potion to change colour. Hermione had told him that silver meant negative result and purple meant positive. Ron had hoped for the colour to start changing slowly so didn't have to wait until the end but according to her the colour would change at once. For the time being Ron had to spend his time agonizing over what to do next.

If Draco was telling the truth then the twins had merely acted on self defense and he would most probably have to forward the case to the mental health department as such fear wasn't normal. But even then they would have the runaway boy to deal with. Harry wouldn't be pleased by the idea of his son being on the wanted list at all. Ron knew his best friend and was aware that even though he'd come across the children only a while back knowing that they were his would make Harry protective over them. He was already protective of the children as it is. Which brought Ron to the dilemma of what to do if Draco had lied. Ron had dealt with many criminals who knew about Harry's soft spot for children and had exploited this tiny fact in so many ways. There was no guarantee that Draco wasn't doing it too.

Ron was brought back from his thoughts as Hermione shuffled past him to the tiny goblet on the table. Frowning she picked it up, tilting it slightly from side to side she pushed it towards Ron.

"We have to tell him."

\-----

"Why are you making such a fuss over the potion turning purple?" Harry crunched his nose at the smell of Albus' diaper before dumping it in the trash. He made a mental note to take the trash out soon so the entire house won't get engulfed by the smell of food scraps and the diaper. He hadn't been really be able to pay attention while cleaning up the mess he'd managed to cause in only a week. It wasn't fun having Hermione and Ron see him in such state. 

Hermione forced herself to calm down when she realized that in her excitement she had forgotten to explain what the sample had been for. "Harry the sample I took from you was for a DNA test."

"What do you mean a DNA test?"

"Draco told us that they are yours," Ron chimed in.

They watched as Harry's face froze before his eyes grew large and his mouth dropped. Harry glanced at the grumpy and upset looking girl who had curled into herself ever since returning from the department. Dropping dishes would have been a more accurate representation of how he felt instead of the running water. He wondered why it was the water instead of a tray of food. Because he needed to wash his hands. And he had to do it because... Because he had touched the diaper.

"Harry!" Hermione was gently nudging his elbow, "I know it's surprising."

"You could say so," Harry replied, training his eyes back on the upset girl. He finally closed the faucet but instead of drying his hands he ran them through his hair. Ron and Hermione waited for him to speak up.

After a while of silence Harry joined Hestia and motioned for his friends to sit down as well.

"What did Draco say exactly?"

"Harry you know we are not supposed to disclose any information about the case."

Both Harry and Hermione gave him glares of annoyance. 

"I'm sure you have already broken way too many rules. Telling me won't change anything one way or another."

"Fine," Ron relented, "but you two owe me not one but several drinks after everything has been sorted.

"Ron you are not allowed anywhere near drinks after last time."

"Oh, come on. Whatever happened during the party was Harry's fault not mine!" 

"Can we please focus on the case," Harry snapped at the couple.

"Right. Sorry," Ron mumbled guiltily, "According to Draco, he got knocked up by you and had to leave Hogwarts because he started show and Mr. Morris was apparently threatening him."

"What?" Harry stared at Ron more in confusion than disbelief. Nothing that Ron said made any sense to him.

"You tell us what. How on earth did you manage to knock up a Malfoy?" Ron hissed back.

"I don't know."

Being more experienced with such situations Hermione decided to take the lead. Clearly one child had taught neither of them how to handle the news of becoming a father.

"Harry, the typical time for first timers to show is around twelve to fifteen weeks and if you take into count that his robes might have hidden the baby bump for a little while... Let me see, I think Draco started to show up lesser and lesser in the classes around May. I remember hearing some younger slytherins speculating why he left Hogwarts right when graduation was behind the corner."

"Now that you mention it, I think I remember Blaise getting into a fight with other boys and accusing them of doing something to Draco," Ron added, building a timeline for his case.

"So if the robes and potential delay of the bump were counted, he got pregnant around January or February," Hermione continued, "Harry, did you two have sex around that time?"

"Of course he didn't! Mione we were with him all the time. There was no way he could have gotten enough time to go that far with Malfoy."

"No, I didn't. I didn't get the time in January but during Christmas I did."

"Christmas? But that makes it nearly five months. I can't believe he managed to hide it for so long. Specially since he was expecting twins," Hermione exclaimed.

"But he could have easily used charms to hide it. Besides he did start to skip a lot of classes and even left Hogwarts." Ron added, although his remarks didn't really convince Hermione.

It all made more sense to Harry now. The weird dreams he'd been seeing weren't dreams at all but memories. He remembered how upset he had been for not joining the Christmas celebration at the Burrow. Actually he was just upset that he couldn't enjoy the Christmas because of flu. At least there he could've gotten warm drinks to keep the flu at bay. He had hazy memories of stumbling upon Draco in the library as he trotted around Hogwarts with nothing better to do.

_"I really don't think this is a good idea Potter. You'll end up dead in a ditch."_

_"As long as you're with me nothing of that sort will happen."_

_"I could kill you, you know. Get you drunk enough and then push you in that ditch."_

_"I don't think you would. I don't think you even want to."_

_"How can you be so sure? I am a death eater after all. Nothing would bring me anymore luxury and popularity as getting rid of your ugly mug."_

_"To maintain the Christmas spirit I am going to ignore that comment about my face. And... Malfoy you were a death eater, you're not one anymore. Besides just getting a dark mark doesn't make you anymore a death eater than getting this scar makes me Voldemort's favourite one."_

Certainly drinking while having flu hadn't been a good idea. The more he was able to remember the more memories began to pop up. The disturbing topics he'd been trying to get a grasp of suddenly got more context and became more funny than disturbing. He could remember Draco forcefully sharing all his drinks to keep him from drinking too much. That was a bad idea too but neither of them cared. Harry had been glad to be able to get out of Hogwarts for the Christmas evening and Draco seemed to be glad to be able to drink without having to pay for it or getting dirty glances from other people.

After that the memories became hazy. They both must have been too intoxicated to remember anything. Next thing he could remember was waking up to the voices of Hermione and madam Pomfrey. When they had inquired Harry hadn't been able to remember anything at all, no matter how hard he tried. Not that he tried really hard. There isn't really much to remember in being delirious because of flu. 

"Are you serious? Don't tell me you spent the Christmas night humping Malfoy," Ron broke Harry's train of thoughts, earning a dirty glare from his wife.

"I guess I did. Why didn't he tell me?"

"He didn't want to seem like he was trying to earn the old Malfoy status back through you."

"You can't be serious!" Harry snapped.

"Mate, I'm only repeating his words. He said it himself that he didn't want to seem like a gold digger."

Harry was fuming with anger. What on earth was that supposed to mean? How could Draco ever imagine that Harry would blame him for being a gold digger? Harry could feel Hermione rubbing her hand in circles against his back calming him down the way she used to after the war. For the first time however, it didn't feel calming at all. He couldn't believe that he had two legally adult children. They had even lived under the same roof for fair amount of time yet Draco never felt like it was important to let him know about his own children. He glanced at Hestia for the umpteenth time, but this time he could actually see the resemblance that he hadn't noticed before.

She had Draco's eyes and pointy features only a Malfoy could have, but the twinkle in her eyes, her now missing laid back nature, her skin and her hair were just like his. To think that all this time he'd thought that they were features inherited from Vesta when Draco had shown him a picture of her. Now that Harry thought of it he and Vesta did share certain features. Scorpius on the other hand was the exact copy of Draco. They were like mini versions of both their fathers. Hestia of him and Scorpius—

"Where's Scorp?" Harry suddenly broke out of the trance of disbelief and surprise.

Ron and Hermione shared a quick glance.

"He is on the run with the healer," Ron finally confessed.

"He is what?" 

"Mr. Morris and I went to check up on the children but then Scorpius pounced on him before apparating away," Hermione explained.

"Why was he with you? I thought Pansy was in charge of them alongside with you."

"She is, but she has been a little ill since the party. Besides Mr. Morris showed so much genuine interest in the treatment process. I thought since he is the Malfoy family healer it might be good to let him join."

Something about the story didn't make any sense to Harry. "Didn't you just a while ago tell me that the healer was threatening Draco?"

"Yes, so he said. Mr. Morris threatened him that he would reveal about the pregnancy to the press."

"But when Draco left he never tried to do anything?"

"Malfoy said he wiped all the evidence. But still something feels wrong. It couldn't have been that hard to find Malfoy. If Malfoy is telling the truth then he has waited over a decade to get back at him. But even if Mr. Morris was originally set to harm you but upon finding Malfoy he decided to change his plans, why didn't he just kill them. Why cast Renaissance and then wait even more? And if Malfoy did indeed leave before giving birth to the twins then why were they so defensive. They were ready to kill Mr. Morris the day he tried to check up on Draco."

"That's it! If he was after Draco then maybe the curse meant for me was going to be Draco's demise. But somehow the twins came in between getting the curse upon themselves. That's why seeing the healer triggered the memories during the party!" Harry said triumphantly.

Ron had to agree that Harry's deduction had a point to it. But for that he would have had to question both Draco and Hestia. Harry and Hermione seemed to have thought the same.

"I guess, we can just get it done here. I still haven't told anyone in the department and she might be more willing to talk with you around."

They all turned to look at the girl who was still off in her own world as if a bunch of life changing twists and turns hadn't happened within too short amount of time.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, look we are getting closer to the final showdown :D
> 
> Tbh I'm beginning to be quite disappointed in this fic. It hasn't turned out the way I wanted it to, its too plot driven instead of character driven like I wanted it to be. Also, well a tiny confession time. I just have overall trouble writing romance, so there hasn't been as much drarry in this as I wished. I hope I can add more in the remaining chapters. But till then I hope you guys enjoy the ride. Thanks for all the support ^_^!

"Just a memo for once all of this is over. I already didn't like that bracelet on her hand but now I downright hate you for using it on her," Harry told Ron as the latter set to take off the magic binding security bracelet that had a few other perks. Like making people temporarily mute and deaf. There was no way he would have broken the news to Harry otherwise with Hestia around.

"Trust me mate, I am well aware of it," Ron rolled his eyes. He knew Harry would get over it once everything gets sorted. He just hoped things would actually get sorted. "I just wasn't sure if they can be trusted. I mean the little incident at the manor did come completely out of the blue. I am not really ready to believe them now either. Only reason I am doing this is because my auror instincts and you are telling me to side with the Malfoys." 

Another perk of the bracelet was that even after taking it off it took a moment for the wearer to recover from the frozen state they had been in. All three took advantage of the time and moved Hestia to living room to make things easier for her. Hermione and Harry brought all her favourite plushies and blankets creating a tiny fort around her while Ron went to fetch something warm for her to drink.

As they sat back to wait for her to become aware of her surroundings, staring at her mini fort Harry felt his heart twist at the thought of having an almost family that was about to turn into shambles, again. He couldn't let that happen. He had already lost his family twice, and now Draco and Scorpius were away too leaving only Hestia with him. His only hope to fix it was this little girl in front of him. The girl who had nonchalantly pushed the door close in front of his face, the girl who rivaled Bellatrix (or perhaps actually him) with her hair, this little quirky girl was his daughter. Harry couldn't wait for everything to be over so he could get to know his children better.

Eventually Hestia began to shuffle around a little. Ron had warned them of a full blown tantrum as both siblings seemed to have quite the temper and very foul mouths but as soon as she registered her surroundings, or rather the people surrounding her, her expression changed from slack emotionlessness to the same cold unreadable one that Harry remembered Draco having constantly when they were young.

Hestia didn't dilly dally at all, instead when Ron offered her the warm mug of hot chocolate she ignored it and looked straight into Ron's eyes, her gaze piercing through him. "I fucking hate hot chocolate. Just let dad go. I need him to find Scorp then you can take me to Azkaban. Of course after setting them free."

Ron wasn't really fazed by it at all as he had actually been expecting something more dramatic given her earlier hissy fits and the fact that she was at the core a Malfoy,   
but both Hermione and Harry were taken back by the coldness in her voice. It was hard to believe that the girl who had been just two weeks prior whining about wanting a mug of hot chocolate made by Harry before going to sleep, was now telling Ron how she _fucking_ hated it.

"Nobody is going to Azkaban," Ron told her putting the mug down, "I don't really understand why you all want to go to Azkaban so badly, but right now that isn't happening. We want to help you too. But I'm already handling everything in the most wrong way possible. I have broken so many rules. But trust me, I really do want to help you. We all want to."

Harry knew that Ron wasn't really that fond of the children anymore but he felt grateful that he was being considerate of Hestia even though technically she was a young adult trapped in a child's body.

"Yeah right. That's why I'm being offered a mug of shit while all of you are ogling me like an alien specimen about to be dissected. And meanwhile my dad is arrested and my brother has been kidnapped and they are both under the risk of being murdered." Hestia raised an eyebrow.

Harry itched to tell her off for her language and overall behavior but that wasn't something to be focused on right now. "What do you mean murdered?"

"That bloody healer! If we can't find him he'll kill my brother!" Despite the danger implied in her words Hestia seemed awfully calm and collected. 

"We have aurors already looking for them. We need you to stop being so unwilling to help us. I understand your... anger. But we do have all the force possible working on this case. However, there's not much we can do if we don't have any information. If you want to ensure your brother's safety you need to help us," Ron said, trying to assess if the younger Malfoys were just playing an elaborate prank on everyone.

"You do realize that dad has the most knowledge. The bloody bastard has a problem with dad, not us. We are just handy pawns to get back at him," Hestia scoffed. Her tiny face scrunching up in rather mature ways that look only good on children in comedy skits or in pageant shows, if even there.

"We tried to interrogate him but his answers are too vague and we don't have time to waste. If you are serious about the risk of murder then we should've already by now had better leads and more concrete places to search from."

Ron's remark and straightforward manner of handling Hestia seemed to work. Harry could see Hestia drop the defensiveness in her posture. She considered his words for a moment before speaking up again.

"Are you willing to ensure all three of us impunity after knowing everything if I help you?"

Ron let out a chuckle, he couldn't believe that after all the secrecy to protect Harry and thus protecting Draco, the girl would have the nerve to still ask for more. "Listen, I am already—"

"Are you willing or not? We will make a magical contract that will make sure that either party would die of a heart attack if they hold back on the promise. I'm not speaking up before you are ready to make the promise."

This time the one being outraged was Hermione. Although she wanted to help her, she wasn't quite ready to risk Ron's life. "No one is making any such promises—"

"I am," Harry interrupted her, "I can make a deal with you. I will make sure that both you two and Draco get out of this mess."

"Harry what in Merlin's name?!" Both Ron and Hermione turned to him.

"We can't waste time on negotiations now, besides they're my family. I don't want them to get in trouble either," Harry defended himself.

"We are not family. Just raising us for a few weeks doesn't make us a family. This is a plain cold deal to save our asses. You can either take it or I'll try to fend for my family until my last breath on my own," Hestia interjected the adults.

Despite being scared of suddenly becoming a father of two grown children Harry's heart broke by her words. Draco hadn't told them. It made sense, but understanding made it no easier for him to accept the truth. Nevertheless Harry held her piercing gaze and forwarded his hand.

"Deal."

"You will die if you try to break the promise," Hestia said taking a hold of his hand.

Harry squeezed his hand tighter around the tiny hand. He saw Hestia's lips part a little and move just a fraction before a painful jolt traveled up his arm.

"Deal done. I'm obliged to help you now in anyway I can. But I may or may not have tweaked the deal a little."

"Why you—"

"Ron, it's fine."

"I made it so that apart from making sure there are no trials or any other repercussions you also have to help us as best as you can."

"Understood. Are you willing to talk about it now?"

"No. I'm going to go home now and you are coming with me." Hestia got up and looked at the three adults. "I'm taking only Harry with me. Until we return, you," she nodded her head at Ron, "will make sure father doesn't find out about Scorp. And you," she turned towards Hermione, "will feed this to Albus."

Hestia then ran her hand through her hair yanking out a few strands of her hair. She closed her eyes and muttered a spell. The strains began to glow and shrink before they turned into a tiny teddy shaped pill.

"It will keep Albus safe from Scorp's magic," she instructed Hermione who stared at the pill in mild disgust. Then she added hesitantly, "And mine too. Just crush it and add it to his food."

"How can we trust anything you have said this far?" Ron finally asked.

"You can't. But if you want to save the life of your dear Golden Boy," Hestia said so snarkily she could rival her father, "and the life of the little coochie poo of his then you better do as I say. Once the healer has killed us off he will come after them. And from what I remember from the past two months our Goldy here has gotten quite rusty in fighting boss level enemies."

Harry could almost picture his daughter as a glass cutter. Or a very spiky thorn on a rose. As hurt as he felt by her behavior, something about her told him he could trust her, the way despite Draco's past he knew that Draco wasn't the evil mastermind behind everything that was going on. Even though the idea of feeding his son a pill made of her hair sounded nasty. Besides he had never been able to handle himself when it came to Malfoy-ish behavior. If his daughter was challenging him then so be it. He will show her that he can and will protect, not just Albus but also the twins.

"Fine," he took the lead, "Ron, Mione, just do as she says. I will be back soon."

"Harry, you can't! There's no guarantee that anything she has said or done is not going to harm us! This pill could be poison for all we know. It's her _hair_ for Merlin's sake!"

"There is nothing else we can do either, is there?"

"Hermione is right mate, we can't just run off on the instructions of a small girl," Ron agreed with Hermione.

"That pill is a protection technique used in tribal magic. If you digest a part of someone else you can be protected from their magic. But if you don't want to feed it to him, which makes sense, then at least you can guard Albus. You may not care about others to be able to see beyond our surname but I care about my fathers and my brothers. I really need to get home before anything else goes wrong."

_Fathers and brothers_. 

Unless there was another Malfoy out there Harry wasn't aware of, it could only mean that Hestia did actually know about Harry. Hence her insistence on protecting Albus. The knowledge made him determined to do what he did best. Lunge headfirst into it. One moment he had been standing there between Hermione, Ron and Hestia trying to decide who to listen to, the next moment he had taken a step forward and taken a hold of Hestia's hand. It was risky but this was the best way to go. Before Hermione and Ron could complete whatever warnings they were going to say, he had apparated in front of Draco's house with Hestia by his side.

"Never do that again," Hestia said letting go of him. She was squatting on the ground as if ready to heave out the measly breakfast she had had while confined.

"I'm sorry. I should have realized you have never apparated." Harry apologized and bent down to check up on the now preteen girl the way he had gotten used to do within the past two months but Hestia leaned away. She held her stomach a little longer before finally slowly getting up.

"Don't be. It was the only way out of there. But we need to hurry. I'm sure he'll come for me next. I need to show you everything before I leave. I can't have him find mom's stash," she rattled on as she dragged Harry behind her.

"Why are we here? And what stash?"

"You'll find out in a minute. Just follow me _Papa_."

They had already gotten through the main door, but Harry stopped on his tracks. "Only a while ago you denied being my daughter but now you are calling me papa." Given the situation his question was untimely, but Harry couldn't help it. It wasn't fair that he was deprived of his children for so long. Then instead of Draco telling the truth to him he had to know about it from Ron and Hermione under such circumstances. And as a cherry on the top his own daughter was flitting between refusing it quite rudely and then acknowledging it as if was common knowledge and didn't need more explaining.

Hestia was about to snap at him about shortage of time, but the look on Harry's face made her drop the stern glare. "I can't explain everything right now. That's why I have brought you here. I do know that you are my father. Mom always said we had three parents, including her. She used to joke that if Dad didn't man up on his own then when she's about to die she would as her last request make him take us to you. We knew about you and Ginny, we heard the news about Albus. We have the articles about his birth and his grainy photos from the issues of Prophet that Jake got us framed on our bedroom walls. Dad has a family tree mural painted on one of the living room walls with all the Malfoys, Blacks and Weasleys, and there next to us we have all of you."

Harry was speechless. What was he even supposed to say?

Hestia continued, "I know this is confusing and scary but it is so to me too. One day we were living our life happily in this reclusive town and the next day you show up turning everything upside down."

Harry could see fatigue on her face. She looked just like her father. As if she had seen too much too early and was just waiting for everything to be over.

"I need to show you the possible lead. I could've showed it to uncle Ron but right now he's a little too biased against us. I won't be able to defeat the healer on my own and I'm not going to even try to. And if Dad found out I'm still here and safe with you he would undo our link. Thus because rest of the adults are being morons I need you to save us one last time Papa."

Her eyes were pleading Harry to follow her without another question and Merlin knows if Harry wouldn't have given up his life at that moment just to save his children and the man he had started to fall for. He just nodded and let Hestia lead the way.

He followed her through the hallway to the living room. Before he could pay closer attention to the mural she beckoned him to help her out with the thick white carpet. They rolled it out of the way revealing a tiny door on the floor. Hestia merely snapped her fingers and the door opened itself revealing a rather huge compartment. It was filled with vials upon vials of silvery liquid and dozens of DVDs. Hestia stuck her hand into the stash and dug out a weird looking CD-player. It was a normal portable one except where it should have had the headphones connected it had a tiny attached piece like a gramophone horn and on top of the lid there was a tube.

"This is our version of a pensieve. It's the early prototype Mom made, the modern ones don't look this retarded. You can play memory CDs the normal way. The horn will project it to any surface so you won't have to stick your head into anything like a bloody ostrich."

Harry wanted to call her out for her language but before he could even decide if it would be appropriate this far in their father daughter relationship Hestia continued instructing him on how to use the player.

"Not all memories have been turned into CDs. Some are in the classic vials. You'll have to pour them through the tube. They will mold into the player and play through the horn. To get the liquid out just put the vial on the tube securely and tip the player upside down. There is a suction charm on it so every last bit of the liquid should go back into the vial. Finally there are the actual blank slate CDs. You can play them with this too, the horn has been charmed to work like a normal DVD player as well."

"Let me see if I got it," Harry interrupted her, "these vials go down the tube, these silvery CDs are charmed and these normal looking ones are blank slates?"

"Muggle CDs. We call muggles blank slates. They are not charmed in any way. I don't have time right now to explain the terminology but chronologically the blank slate ones come first, they are Mom's earliest video logs. We just changed the formats when VHS players went out of style. Charmed CDs are from the time when Mom was with Dad. Finally the vials are the last memories. Up to the moment of her death. Dad can't bring himself to do anything about them."

"How did you manage to—"

"It's all explained there. These are all combined into Mom's diary. There will be many intimate memories. I am sure I can trust you to be civil with these?"

"Of course," Harry assured her. Given the amount of content to go through Harry could imagine having to go through certain memories that were not meant for him or anybody else for that matter.

"These are not dated because Dad wanted to keep us from watching them so I don't know exact order of each memory. Because apparently not knowing the dates is supposed to keep us away. You can imagine how well that logic worked out. But I do know sometimes a vial can be an older memory and a CD can be a newer memory." 

"Yes, yes, I got it. But you didn't explain why I am doing this."

"Me and Scorp are technically Siamese twins. We are not physically connected but magically. That's why we always stay at close proximity to each other. Abducting one means abducting both. I have resisted the urge to be pulled to him but I can feel his magic tugging at mine harder and harder. I won't be able to not be faded to him. Besides without his magic Scorp is useless to the healer. That monster will eventually come for me. If he comes for me you won't have any leads to go by. If I go to him I can leave these in your care. So it's just better for me to stop resisting."

"None of what you said makes any sense! But even is he comes for you we can just ambush and take him down."

"I'm not risking my brother for your ambush plans," Hestia said with a determined gaze, "Now this is the wall Dad uses to depress himself when he thinks we wouldn't know. But we always do. After a night of trip down the memory lane he refuses all potential dates and empties ice cream boxes without leaving any for us. Anyway, dad has always been our superhero. Why don't you become our knight?" She asked with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I— Hestia we don't have to do any of this. If you are magically connected to Scorpius then take us to him or bring him here. This way we are just wasting time."

"I can't. I think the healer has put some wards up so I'll be pulled there by Scorp's magic. It's not side along apparition that I can just take you there with me. Our connection isn't telepathy. I can't hear him, I can only feel him. So I don't know the exact location. But those memories should contain Mom's research on the healer. She knew about him and did a certain amount of research. I regret not daring to go through the later memories otherwise I could've already given you information. Our best bet right now is to see if there are hideouts or anything else mentioned. Don't worry Papa. As long as the player works I'm safe. The moment something happens to either of us all our magic, all the charms and spells cast around the house will fall apart."

"Surely Draco knows where his hideout could be?" Harry nearly begged his daughter. He couldn't understand why they were doing this the hard way. He really hoped this wasn't some weird flare for drama typical for the Malfoys.

"War PTSD and his traumatic experiences with the healer have left gaping holes in his memory. If you push him too hard he'll keep getting those fainting spells. And we don't have time to force him to get therapy."

Harry was feverishly trying to come up with alternative ways to go about instead of this but before he could come up with a smarter way Hestia began to literally fade.

"Hessie? What's going on?"

"Don't worry. I'll try my best to deal with things from the other side. He has underestimated our abilities too much and I'll make sure he regrets it. We'll hold back whatever misery he's planned for us, but do hurry. And it's okay, I'm just being pulled to Scorp. Keeps happening all the time. This is why we only go on double dates. Stay safe and take care of Albus. And if Dad says something about letting Scorp die for me then tell him he can fuck off. I love you gu—"

Harry tried to grab her hand to stop her or be dragged away with her, but just like that his daughter faded away right in front of him. Harry could feel the dread spread through his body. Despite Hestia's confidence Harry couldn't leave her to fight the healer, so he did the most logical thing to do if he wanted to save them. Picking up a muggle disc he inserted it into the player.


	42. Chapter 42

He was well aware of holding his breath while waiting for the player to work. It was hard to not be a little scared of what the weird looking player might do but he still gave it a try. He could feel a silent hum of magic on the player. Harry could tell it was magic yet it still somehow felt very different from the magic he was familiar with.

Harry had turned the player to face the wall Hestia had showed him. It didn't take too long for the humming to intensify before a flash of light shot from the horn towards the wall and it up like a huge screen and a large face of a young woman was smiling at Harry.

 _"Heyyyyyyyy! Do you know what day it is today?"_ There was a short expectant pause as if she was waiting for an answer, _"Exactly! Today we are going to learn the flower names. I have the flower book today. Ann-Marie I checked your homework. You did well! And Hugh you have finally learnt to tie your own shoes. Awesome!"_

Here the woman let out a hearty laugh and winked at the camera. She looked quite a lot like Harry. Her skin was only a tad lighter than his and her hair was as much a mess as his was. It wouldn't have been too hard for her to pass as Hestia and Scorpius' mother. The photos Draco had showed him didn't do any justice at all to the resemblance between her and Harry.

Harry clicked open the lid of the player and took the disc out. This wasn't a CD he needed to finish. He wasn't sure how to time stamp it yet. Was it after meeting Draco? Or perhaps before? Harry put the disc away and took another one. A moment later another video log was playing on the screen. This time the colorful room of the previous video was replaced by a dull looking bedroom. Vesta was laying on her bed facing the camera. She looked a little spooked despite the excited glint in her eyes. 

_"So, uh. I'd been hearing sounds lately during my walk. And at first I thought it was just an animal so I kept going. But then they got a bit more intense, you know?"_ She asked the camera.

No he didn't know, but he knew she was talking to the camera yet he couldn't help feeling like the large head was addressing him. He nodded even though he had no idea what she was talking about.

_"I got scared. You know what a scaredy cat I am. It was just freaky. I thought it could be a ghost or something. So I dropped the walks. I'd rather get diabetes than be eaten by a ghost. But last night I read this book about a kid held captive and she kept asking for help but people thought that her muffled cries were animals scuttling. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I don't think I can sleep in peace if I don't check out the sound. So cops, or whoever is watching this. If I am dead then it was the ghost. Or maybe a drug dealing circle because you know, they use the ghost cover and all that. No matter what it is, I'm going to take this video camera with me just in case it turns out to be aliens or something. I'll have proof then."_

The log ended with a chuckle and a wink. It seemed like something Vesta liked to do often. Harry took the CD out. This could be a little more important than the previous one. Ron hadn't mentioned Draco being captive at any point but he'd rather gather too much evidence for now than miss anything. If she did take the video camera with her there must be a converted CD somewhere.

Harry put the current disc aside too and then took all of the muggle discs out. At least there was some sort of grouping. He picked up first casing and turned it around trying to find any small detail that would help him. He tried to think how he would have marked a bunch of same looking things if he couldn't use magic. He tried to find numbers written with dark permanent marker, since the twins could have missed that one. After a few cases he gave up. Next he tried to see if there was anything on the discs themselves. There was nothing. Of course not. No matter how magic free he was Draco would never resort to such obvious measures.

Harry decided to play a few more CDs. Perhaps there was something in the videos themselves. The next several disc were part of the class project he'd seen in the first log. To save time as soon as the colourful classroom showed up Harry took the disc out and put the next one in its place. Finally after several changes there was another one that wasn't taken in the classroom.

 _"Umm, that's good. And I'll leave this one here. Ah, I forgot the door."_ Vesta got up and closed the door of the room. She was mostly huffing to herself as she stomped around. _"So day 458. It's been a year and three? four? About three to four months since then. The concealment charm? Yeah concealment charm is working fine. The crazy dude hasn't been after Drake anymore. We had to move but luckily we found another apartment near my workplace. I know it's silly that I'm worried about my work since our lives are at stake here, but I need to support us all while Drake is studying. Last thing I want is for him to worry about money he's already had to adjust to so many things. I may not be able to give him as luxurious a life as he once had but I can make sure he gets to live the way a young man his age should."_

Harry perked up a little. Draco's muggle name was Drake. She could only be talking about him. There weren't as many discs or vials as she mentioned days. Perhaps one disc contained more than one day. Harry made a mental note to go through the classroom ones again and skip forward to see if he'd missed something. His phone rang but before Harry could answer the call ended so he didn't even bother getting the phone out of his pocket.

_"He's finally interacting with Cissy so that's good. I ought to thank Luc for it. She won't stop crying if they're even moved to separate couches. I've been trying to get Drake to go to therapy but he's continuously refusing help. It makes sense with the war and Voldemort and the blood cults."_

Vesta sighed, her posture drooping. When she looked at the camera again she looked exhausted, something Harry had noted in the earlier video too. _"I can't leave them alone because there are way too many things trying to get them killed, including Draco himself. He tried to cut his arm off. It's been increasingly harder and harder for me to work with the children when I'm constantly worried. I think I'm going to take a few weeks vacation. I'll make tapes for Ann-Marie and Hugh. But if this keeps going on I'll have to leave my job so I can't let them get too attached to me. Cissy, Luc and Drake need me more."_

The log ended there but since the low humming continued Harry waited until another scene coloured the wall.

_"Drakeyyyyyy! Turn around!"_

_"Vesta leave us alone, please, and go to sleep. You need to nap too, you look like a drunk platypus. I need to put them to sleep so I can get ready for the classes."_

_"Aww, come on. Can't you just sing one lullaby? The children will love it when they grow up."_

_"You know very well I am not traumatizing them forever with the heavenly sight of my body. And I don't remember agreeing on making any biographies."_

_"Oh, come on! You're only shirtless! You still have my pants."_

Draco was indeed clad only in a pair of pants patterned with cute floating clouds. He was facing away from the camera but Harry could hear the amusement in his voice. His posture was lacking the usual tenseness with which Draco carried himself, and the yellow obscuring lighting coming from the window in front of him made Draco look almost ethereal as he rocked back and forth while patting one of the twins hidden from the camera by his body. The light banter went on between Vesta and Draco through it all. Harry knew he should stop watching or skip forward but he couldn't help himself. 

Despite the warmth everything felt so wrong. Draco didn't have all the tattoos he had now, instead his skin was full of old scars. Harry had a bunch of scars himself, but he could never get used to seeing them on other people. It had taken him ages to get used to the ones on Ron and Hermione too. Not to speak of how young Draco looked.

There had always been something rather youthful about Draco anyway. A reason why Harry had never been able to take him seriously and felt rather annoyed whenever Draco tried to pick a fight with him. Seeing the snotty brat of his memories having to grow up so much so suddenly made him sad and consequently angry. Harry knew Draco did not regret the twins but it was hard not to consider that Draco had gotten himself saddled with them rather than actually want them in his life.

With a lot of difficulty Harry pushed the rather grim thoughts to the back of his mind and tore his eyes away from the video. Draco had finally caved in and was singing a lullaby although he still hadn't turned to face Vesta. The lullaby was the one Harry had heard him sing to all three children over and over again, except instead of the low firm voice Harry knew, his voice was high and weak, breaking whenever he couldn't hold the note anymore. Instead of skipping forward he changed the whole disc. Vesta didn't seem dumb or cruel enough to put anything grim on the same disc. Or so Harry hoped.

He couldn't find the one where Vesta was supposed to go to check the source of the sounds. The remaining muggle discs were about Vesta's class project and the twins. The twins taking their first steps, singing children's songs and whatnot. Harry wished he'd had more time to go through them. If this big mess got sorted out Harry would never be allowed near these discs again. For a moment the urge to slip some of the discs aside to take home nearly overwhelmed him, but shaking his head Harry picked up a magical disc. Instead of a typical humming of the player the horn projecting the memory onto the wall began to make a very low clicking sound.

The twins were sitting by Draco's feet making drawings in this one. Harry could see the telltale tattoos around his ankles. In this one they seemed around three or four years old if the clothes were anything to go by. The ratty discolored clothes Harry had seen them wear were brand new in the memory. Their crayons were scattered all around them and there was more colour on their hands and the floor than on the papers.

_"Mommy?"_

_"Yes, darling?"_

The view shifted to a bunch of papers on Vesta's lap. Before Harry could read them Vesta's hand closed the file and the view shifted back to the twins. Scorpius was looking up at her.

_"What's the scar like on Papa's head?"_

_"You should ask Daddy, sweetie. I've never seen it."_

The view shifted up to Draco. He seemed reluctant but Vesta must have glared at him for his expression changed ever so slightly. Warm enough for Scorpius but still very offended by Vesta's betrayal.

_"Well, it looks like a branch of a sickly tree bent downwards."_

_"Like this?"_

_"Yup, just like that."_

The view had shifted back to Scorpius but his tiny head was covering the paper. 

Harry couldn't help cracking a smile at the description. He'd heard and read descriptions about his scar looking like a bolt of lightning but, of course, Draco would consider it a tree branch. A sickly tree branch. In the video Draco was smiling too. First at Scorpius before looking up and smiling at Vesta. For a second Harry felt like Draco was smiling at him. As if the shape of his scar was an inside joke between him and Draco that Draco had just mentioned it to Scorpius knowing that their son wouldn't figure out the punchline until years later.

As the small smile on Draco's lips got even more lovestruck Harry couldn't help feeling like he was intruding on a private moment. He had to remind himself that he used to smile at Ginny like that, thus whatever ugly feeling towards Vesta was trying to rear its head, was totally uncalled for. Gingerly he skipped the video forward only to see another bunch of memories about the twins and Draco.

Twins creating a puppet show for Vesta and Draco, all three of them ganging up on Vesta during a tickle fight causing the memory to be just a bunch of shrieks and shuffling, Draco singing in a loud obnoxious voice while cooking. Finally the disc ended to a memory of Hestia and Scorpius putting make up on each other's faces and the view occasionally shifting to a sleeping Draco, whose face had been equally vandalized. 

The clicking sound had ceased indicating that he'd need to change the disc but Harry needed a break. The more sappy and nice the memories were getting the more angry he was starting to feel. What happened to either of them wasn't fair. They shouldn't have had to detour so much before crossing paths again. The healer should have learnt his lesson after Harry had defeated Voldemort. He should have left Draco alone. Harry should have found out about Draco being up the duff and put two and two together. Draco should have just told him. They should have figured things out, fallen in love along the way and not wasted so many years.

The anger seemed to give Harry's determination more power. He took another disc, this time Vesta was staring back at him although from a mirror. All her make up was scattered in front of it on the make up table. She seemed to be getting ready to go somewhere, maybe with Draco, judging from the lovestruck look in her eyes.

_"Day I-have-stopped-counting. Drake thinks I don't know that he's going to try to propose. He has attempted it on way too many occasions already. It's becoming more of a routine now. I have a tendency to foil his perfect plans. I would've refused today as well. I wanted to stay home to study the charms for blank slates, after all I didn't make Sarah badger her pen pal for nothing. But he's even learnt some new trick with his bike that he wants to show. I can't say no to that."_

Vesta chuckled a little before dropping her gaze and picking up a pair of earrings. She put them on while talking to the mirror, or rather to herself.

_"I was scared at first. I'm way older than him. It just felt wrong. But I've known him now for a little over four years and the kids think I'm their mother so I reckon I can safely say I haven't tricked him into loving me. Besides I like him too. I— I don't know. I guess I just don't want to become a stand in for Harry. I know deep down Drake still loves him. After all Harry was his first love, for years. My resemblance with Harry isn't helping at all. I'm sure if he simply could get a chance to talk to Harry they'd manage to work it out. I'm still going to say yes. I just hope Drake doesn't regret it later. And wherever Harry is, I hope he forgives me for not fighting Drake's affection and my own feelings harder."_

Harry paused the video. Draco had loved him? He tried to rake through his mind to think of any situation that could've hinted at it. It didn't take long for him to realize that all the fighting between them had been pigtail pulling on Draco's part. Then there was the moment Draco had gone out of his way to lie about Harry's identity to save him. Oh Merlin, he'd been so blind. Harry looked back at the wall. Vesta was frozen while giving her appearance an approving smile. She had no reason to apologize to him. She hadn't stolen Draco for him. Draco had never belonged to him in the first place. He'd had the chances but not realizing he'd missed them over and over again. However, perhaps to respect the deceased woman or to assure the nervous woman on the screen he answered to her, "It's alright. I forgive you."

He wanted to even thank her for helping Draco move on. She was right in the previous video. Draco deserved more than paying for his mistakes and pining after Harry for the rest of his life.

Harry shook his head upon realizing how silly he was being. He was talking to a screen showing a woman who talked to video cameras and mirrors. He was just about to take the disc out when he heard the main door open and shut. Harry immediately sprang up, his wand ready for any kind of combat. He was nearly bursting with anger. If the healer had had the nerve to come here to find Draco or to set some other evil plan then he was going to regret it. He slowly edged towards the hallway but the intruder had no intention of doing things slowly.

"Hestia! You are not showing him—" Draco barged in with Ron rushing behind him, but stopped at his tracks when he saw Harry in his living room all alone, surrounded by his most prized possessions that were not meant for Harry to find. On the wall he saw the image of his wife frozen on the moment when she had looked the most dazzling he'd ever seen her. Thank Merlin, Harry hadn't watched further as they had never made it to a date. Luckily the fancy picnic food he had prepared worked well for breakfast too.

"How dare you?" Draco hissed to him, his voice filled with venom. He strode in and shoved Harry away from the discs.

"Draco, I didn't mean to do this. But this is the only way we could find any leads at all," Harry tried to explain himself but Draco wasn't listening to him instead he was trying to gather all the discs as quickly as possible but in vain. The faster he tried to work the more uncoordinated his movement became leading him to get even more frustrated. Whatever he was trying to do turned into a vicious cycle of gathering discs, unnecessary stress and dropping the discs all over again.

"Draco, please you need to stop," Harry tried to approach Draco but Draco shoved him away again.

"You were supposed to save them. I didn't tell Weasley about the twins so you could have your own family reunion here! Least of all watching me and my wife getting at it like rabid animals!"

Harry ignored the unnecessarily revealing comment. He couldn't understand what was wrong with Draco. Draco wanted Harry to save the twins but he wouldn't let the aurors or Harry anywhere near the things that could serve as evidence.

"How was I supposed to do that when you are trying to hide the evidence with your own hands?" Harry shouted, surprising both Ron and Draco.

Draco dropped the discs for the thousandth time and stood up. "I don't know! You are the Golden Boy, the Saviour of the entire Wizarding World. You could have figured something out! You could run around chasing the madman who had killed your parents for years yet you can't do anything at all when it's about your children. Or is it because they have my filthy blood in them?"

Harry couldn't take it anymore. Draco had no right to blame him. With a harsh yank he'd pulled Draco up from the ground, surprising given their height and work out differences. Squeezing Draco's arm tightly Harry looked him deep into the eyes, "You are crossing the line, Draco. I didn't even know they were mine until recently. I am trying to help you. Everyone is, except you. Hestia gave these to me before she _faded_ ," Harry couldn't say it without feeling weird as he'd never seen that happen before, "I'm starting to feel as if you want them dead yourself."

Draco was staring at Harry in disbelief. For a moment Harry felt as if he was going to scream at Harry again for blaming him. His face had even gotten that stormy expression, all too familiar to Harry. But Draco restrained himself. Instead, refusing to look weak he opted to look away from either Harry or Ron. Despite his attempts to stay calm Harry could see the anger pushing its way to the surface.

The silence dragged on. Ron didn't want to take the risk of setting off either of them, while both Harry and Draco waited for the other to make the first move. Harry watched the way Draco repeatedly blinked his eyes to keep the tears at bay. He was succeeding at it but with each blink his eyes turned a tad bit redder. His Adam's apple bobbed with each gulp and his jaw twitched. He reminded Harry of himself as a child.

 _"That's it!"_ Harry realized. "You can't bring yourself to talk about it at all, can you?"

Draco was still facing away but he let his head drop. Harry was right. He couldn't speak about it.

"I'm so sorry I didn't realize it before. It's hard, isn't it?" Harry whispered.

As a child Harry hadn't been the best to hide the signs of his maltreatment by his aunt and uncle. Various adults from school had occasionally asked him if everything was okay. Most settled for a 'I'm fine' but there were a few who pushed the matters further. Harry never figured what it was exactly. Fear? Pride? Whatever it was, it kept Harry from confessing anything. The moment more intimate questions about his conditions at his aunt's home were asked he'd clamp up. He couldn't bring himself to speak about it, yet he couldn't bring himself to lie beyond the 'I'm fine'. It was just hard to explain anything since even he wasn't aware of his magic. He'd feared being rejected after letting the adults raise his hopes up. 

Draco was afraid of being let down in the worst way possible. If the adults failed to protect Harry he'd had to face his aunt's wrath. If Harry failed Draco, he would loose the remaining family he had and the life he'd rebuilt for himself after so much hard work.

Harry let go of Draco's arm and instead cupped his face, "I know it's scary. I've been through it."

Harry would've explained it shortly but Draco answered to his gaze and the look in his eyes told Harry that he knew. Of course, he did. Everyone related to the Wizarding world knew. He wouldn't be surprised if Draco had somehow found a roundabout way to read the Prophet without letting anyone know he was alive. Perhaps all the myths surrounding him stemmed from his newspaper buying trips.

"I know it's scary to reveal the secrets closest to your heart. No matter whether they are positive or negative ones. It's scary because you don't know how I might react. It's scary because if I fail you now you're afraid you will never be able to fix things again. It's scary because this is all there's remaining and if things go wrong then it'll be the end. That you will be left empty, void."

Draco still didn't answer, but Harry didn't really need one. Draco had let go of the tension and almost pressed his face against the warmth of Harry's palms against his cheeks.

"Knowing you for years, I can imagine you are skeptical of my love for the twins or about my affection for you. I don't mind. You have all the right to be. But you have to keep in mind that I haven't had the chance to prove my love. I only found out this morning. I just need you to give me a chance. I swear I'll die trying to save you all. I'll make sure nothing ever gets you again."

"You can't," Draco finally croaked an answer.

Harry would have honestly loved to take his sweet time to convince Draco of his affection, but they did not have the time. Before he could say anything Draco continued, "You can't die trying. A pair of twins is enough of a trouble. I'm not taking care of three at once on my own."

It took Harry a moment to realize what Draco meant.

"I won't. I can't let you hog up all the parent achievements, now can I?" Harry asked with a smile when he finally realized what Draco meant.

They were interrupted by Ron's loud cough. Things were already weird enough. Last thing he needed was for things to go awkward for him. Besides as an auror he had the responsibility to shift focus back to where it should be.

"Where's Hestia? You apparated her with you."

Harry had dropped his hands away from Draco's face but they were still standing close to each other. "She faded away to Scorpius."

"What?!" Draco looked at him ludicrously, waving away the remaining rawness of the moment they had just had. The return of Malfoy both comforting and disappointing at once.

"No, no, no. Why didn't you stop her?"

"She had expected you'd say something along the lines. And her message for you before she faded was and I quote her, if Dad says something about letting Scorp die for me then he can fuck off."

The storm had returned to Draco's face, but this time it was directed at his absent daughter. However, before Harry could ask why it was such a big deal to Draco Ron stepped in for real this time. 

"Faded?"

"It's a link between the twins."

"The one you told me about?"

"No, that's a family bond spell."

"Wait, how many links and bonds do you have?" Ron pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I guess I should explain..." Draco trailed off. He wasn't sure if he could do it. However, Harry leaned closer and took Draco's hands in his own.

"I understand it's hard, but we really need to help the twins. We have wasted enough time as it is."

"I— What can I do?" Draco asked.

"For starters you could tell us what happened from the beginning," Ron said, before adding, "truthfully, and despite the time restraint don't skip the details. Any of them could prove important, also tell me if you feel any difference in the link."

Draco opened his mouth but then closed it again. A part of him insisting to make things harder than they need to be. If it wasn't for the warmth of Harry's hand around his he might have even done it. With a sigh Draco started, doing his best to ignore the trembling of his voice.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, the weeks of agonizing doesn't show in my sad attempt of an action scene. But I tried. Hopefully, next time the result will be better.

Draco opened his mouth to finally spill the beans, but then closed it again, "I have already told you everything during the interrogation."

"Half the stuff you told was a bunch of lies, Malfoy," Ron huffed.

Harry shot Ron an angry glare, but Draco didn't mind. On the contrary he seemed to relax a little.

"He's right Harry. I have been too caught up in keeping my secrets guarded to see the bigger picture here."

"It's alright, I think I would have done the same if it was about Albus."

Before Draco could disagree with Harry Ron coughed.

"Right," Draco started, "I should first clear up this whole mystery behind our magic. I can still do magic, I just don't do it. I haven't since Vesta died. When I found her I tried to heal her, but the curse Morris cast on her made any of my attempts backfire. My spell made her bleed twice as fast. I only make potions now and dabble in theory."

Ron had taken his phone out and was recording Draco's confession.

"The twins can do magic too, but Vesta taught them a tribal form of magic. If you gave them a wand they would think they are supposed to use it for eating sushi."

"Why tribal magic?"

"It's the only one muggles can gain some level of control in too. During my pregnancy Vesta researched as best as she could and ended up finding a tiny group of witches in Sicily, who directed her to a researcher of tribal magic, Jenna Higgins. Jenna helped with the delivery and after that. While I was suffering from post pregnancy depression and trying to regain my composure, she taught Vesta the ins and outs so Vesta could help us, since Jenna couldn't leave the tribe at the time."

"So the spells and the pill, they are all part of the tribal magic?"

"Yes. It's not as strong as the magic of house elves, but it's stronger than what we do. At least if one has been training since birth. I'm not nearly as good as the twins are."

"How come they are so good at it without a proper mentoring?" Harry asked curiously. If Vesta trained them they shouldn't be this good, she was just a muggle who had a crash course in magic.

"They did get the best mentoring. Vesta was a teacher who often had to adapt to unconventional methods to teach. It wasn't that hard for her to get a hang of it. She taught them the theory, after her death I did. When they were old enough to cast spells themselves Jenna began to have them over for summers to help with the tribe. They are as experienced as the witch doctors and warriors of the tribe."

"So the spells I was dodging that day—?"

"I didn't get to talk to the twins so I guess they launched the strongest spells they could. Not to mention that they have tweaked the spells on their own too."

"Why didn't we catch a whiff of it? An accidental burst of magic should have alerted the aurors back then. Or even after coming here. They are just children, they could have easily spilled the secrets."

"In the past we were just lucky. As for now, Harry didn't tell you about the first few weeks, did he?"

"Tell him what?" Harry asked. He couldn't remember anything that could have given him a reason to notify Ron.

"After the twins were discharged from the hospital I barely got out of the guest room for a while. I was just waiting for the first memories to kick in. Their third word was 'shh'. Jenna used it after every trick she did in front of them. They are better at keeping their magic a secret than unspeakables are. Or their identities. Do you really think they didn't recognize their _Papa_?"

"What?" Harry startled, "Why didn't they—?"

"Apart from towns people they don't associate with anyone unless I have let them know. You came to visit us without an appointment, Harry."

Ron shot a glance full of sympathy to Harry. He couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible it would be if Rose someday refused to recognize him.

"So you have house elves for children, who are alright with a random stranger sitting in their living room but won't let their father in?"

Ron earned angry glares from both Harry and Draco. "What?"

"You're comparing my children to house elves," Harry huffed.

Draco, meanwhile, let out a deep breath, doing his best to not lunge at Ron. After all he was an on duty auror. "We have highly selective wards that can be altered only by me and the twins. They thought I had let Morris in, when actually he either has some powerful spells up his sleeve or I forgot to ward our house against _Alohomora_."

"Mhmm." Ron nodded, letting Draco continue.

"To be honest there isn't much to tell. The war had opened my eyes. When Harry saved me and mother from Azkaban, I decided to make good use of the second chance I had gotten. I knew I can't undo the past but I could build a better future."

Both Harry and Ron nodded. They remembered Draco going around apologizing, even trying to talk to them on several occasions, but the attempts ended soon after Christmas. Harry thought it had been because he'd returned the wand to Draco and Draco wasn't interested in him after completing his agenda.

"On Christmas Day when Harry showed up I was a bit worried about his health, but didn't see the problem in joining him, specially since he had gifted my wand back to me. I forgot nothing ever goes straight between me and Potter," Draco said, earning a snort from Harry, "next morning I realized my mistake when I saw Harry burning in fever. It felt like my fault." Draco rubbed his thumb over Harry's knuckles as if to rub off the phantom fever.

At that moment Harry wished he'd known sooner that it wasn't about the stupid wand. If Harry had found out about it all those years ago he would have gotten really mad at Draco and at himself for offering something as stupid as drinking when he had fever. Now it hardly made him feel anything, apart from the hope rearing its head in him, telling him there could be something more than a weirdly arranged housing system between them.

He wanted to say something comforting to Draco, but had a feeling that stopping Draco would make it harder for him to continue the story.

"It took me a while to realize my illness was pregnancy. Since wizard pregnancy is such a complicated thing, I told healer Morris. In the beginning he helped me out a lot. He would continuously check up on me, give me nutritional potions and try to ask about the father. When I eventually came clean he just nodded and let the matter be."

Draco paused for a moment. The way his jaw twitched and eyes darted, Harry could see how he was fighting the urge say anything that could allow him to stop retelling the story.

"In reality Morris was angry that I had slept with Harry. He wasn't a big fan of the war so he didn't mind that I had betrayed the Dark Lord. However, he did have a problem with procreating with the gryffindor Golden Boy, instead of a slytherin."

"Interhouse hatred, huh? Not the first one but the worst one I've seen," Ron looked up from his phone. He had seen interhouse hatred related cases, but he knew, as well as Draco and Harry, that this case was more about blood purity than about the houses they were sorted into.

"That's what I thought when he first began to treat me differently. It started with weird glances my way, but slowly he got more vocal about it. Eventually he even demanded I get rid of the child."

"Did you ever tell Mrs. Malfoy?"

"No. I didn't want to face her at the time. Mother, of course, knows about wizarding pregnancies. But we were going through so much, she was so exhausted she didn't even notice, and I wanted to go easy on her."

"Why?"

"I don't know for sure, Weasley. Maybe because I was pregnant, hormonal, ashamed and scared, and she had been through a war and her husband was in prison. Last thing she needed was for her son to get knocked up by his arch enemy," Draco snapped.

"Right," Ron pretended to stare hard at the nonexistent message in his phone so he didn't have to look at Draco. One bout of emotion from a Malfoy was more than enough for him.

"Eventually Morris started to control every aspect of my life and I couldn't do anything about it because he threatened to out me to everyone, including my mother. I kept resisting until he starved me to a point where I even began to contemplate chewing off my own extremities."

The idea of Draco, of all people, attacking his own limbs savagely, made both Harry and Ron cringe.

"That's when you met Vesta?"

"That's when I ran away, or tried to. He thought being as huge as a whale and hungry as a wolf would keep me grounded, and it almost did. But I managed to cast a fire on his healer equipment and escape the manor grounds."

"Perfect, so there's arson too?" Ron huffed.

"I wasn't going to leave any evidence of my pregnancy. I may have left everyone behind, but I wasn't going to leave them in trouble," Draco explained, trying not to loose his nerves in the process, "because of the pregnancy my magic was off its rockers. I lost my wand when I tried to cast a glamour and apparated myself into the middle of some random forest, not to mention that Morris caught up with me sooner than I wanted him to."

"Then?"

"This is my favourite part," Draco chuckled, enjoying Ron and Harry's' confused yet expectant faces. "He began to monologue."

"What did he, uh, monologue, about?" Ron asked, his face scrunched up in disbelief. Not because he couldn't believe Draco. He had caught too many criminals at the critical moment because they stopped to monologue. It just didn't make any sense to Ron how criminals still hadn't learnt anything from books and shows.

"He cared about me like his own child, but I was tainted. He needed to cleanse me of the monstrosity growing in me, as he couldn't tolerate a poor child being gifted with Harry's looks, specially his hideous mane. If I hadn't been running for my life I would have agreed with him."

"What?!" Harry exclaimed, getting a questioning stare from Draco as an answer.

"What, as in how dare he call potterspawn tainted monstrosity, or what, as in how dare I agree with him on your looks?"

"What, as in I thought he was a nice old man," Harry grumbled.

Draco shook his head. "Potter, I don't think we really have much luck when it comes to nice old men in our lives."

"But something didn't workout right in his plan. I mean, the twins are alive." Harry tried to change the subject.

"Vesta happened. We were by her morning walk route. She had earlier heard something along it and came to check the source when she spotted us. A hard whack at Morris' head with her backpack did the trick."

"So Morris killed your wife because she whacked him on the head with her backpack?"

Draco smiled bitterly. "I hardly believe any reputable pureblood wizard would like to be whacked unconscious with a bag full of cheap plastic toys. Although I never took Morris as the type to gut anyone out. He couldn't even properly threaten me into aborting my children."

"So we have an angry wizard who is seeking vengeance because he doesn't like interhouse relationships and was hit on the head with plastic toys."

"And because I murdered him."

"You murdered him?" Ron had the look on his face, Harry had often seen ever since Ron had become an auror. The one that indicated he wasn't sure whether to believe someone, in this case Draco, or not. 

If it weren't for Harry's glare Ron would have quit then and there. Draco's story was getting a little outrageous. At least Draco had the decency of looking apologetic. He knew his life was crazy but it hadn't been exactly his choice to lead such a life.

"Elaborate, please."

"Vesta was a smart woman. Instead of freaking out she got me out of the forest and helped me with the pregnancy."

"A muggle helped you with the pregnancy?"

"I already said that like twice." Draco rolled his eyes. "It's the reason why the twins' magic was so unstable in the hospital," Draco explained, "I didn't get the kind of treatment a wizard needs during pregnancy. The first week I was closed up in your guest room I was also trying to keep them from smacking more magazines at Harry's face."

Ron looked at Harry, " _more_ magazines?"

"Albus sometimes smacks the Quidditch magazines at my face," Harry defended himself as nonchalantly as he could. Lucky for him, Ron was in his professional mode. Teasing Harry would have to wait.

"I had three more months to go at the time. When the due date came closer Jenna portkeyed a midwife from the tribe all the way here for my delivery."

"So—"

"Yes, I gave birth to them at home, while nearly crumbling Vesta's hand and shattering her eardrums."

Harry couldn't help but feel a little twinge of jealousy. It should have been his hand that got smashed during the delivery. He should have been the one to whisper soothingly to Draco while being cursed to death by him.

"So let me get this straight. I will repeat what you said, if I got something wrong correct me."

Draco nodded.

"You and Harry had sex on Christmas. You got pregnant, and hid it successfully until Morris started meddling in your affairs. He chased you into a forest where Vesta hit him on the head and you both ran. She poked around a little and found Ms. Higgins, who helped you give birth and then taught magic to your children."

"Pretty much." Draco shrugged.

"I'm not finished yet. How does any of this relate to you murdering Morris?" Ron held up his hand. "Because then you spent five years, being a happy little family, before Morris came back and killed your wife as a revenge for killing him?"

"No. I killed him after he killed my wife."

"But somehow he is back again. Are you sure you killed him?"

"I was, at least. I even checked his pulse."

"Hmm. Could you tell about the day you killed him? How long was it after Vesta's death?"

"It was on the same day."

It was the hardest part. He could recount his slow starvation or the continuous fear of being found, but he could never recount that day without becoming a mess.

He felt Harry's other hand running up and down his back, in an attempt to calm him. It worked, Draco lent into the touch.

"I was at work when I felt twins' distress through the link. It's a tribal charm too. All the families have it cast for emergencies. It was so distracting I had to leave work earlier. I arrived home only to see Morris standing there, gutting my wife out right in front of my children."

Both Harry and Ron shivered at the thought. Having been through a war and dealt with enough many cases Ron knew what it looked like. He wouldn't wish such a sight even to his frowns adult enemies, let alone to young innocent children.

"What did you do?" Ron finally asked, after a moment of silence.

"What do you think, Weasley?" Draco drawled, "I attacked immediately, killing him in that tumble. I would have shredded his body apart if I could, but I had to save Vesta first. Unfortunately, my attempt of stopping the blood loss backfired, as I told you. Before anyone could come for our help she had bled to death. In my panic, I hadn't even realized that Hessie and Scorp were still pressed against the couch watching everything in horror."

The twins' anger at merely seeing the healer and Draco's continuous fainting spells made more sense now. Ron dropped his voice a little and presented his next question with more sympathy, "Can you think of a reason why Morris would wait nearly fifteen years before striking again?"

"I can't. I don't know why he even waited the first five years."

"Why didn't you contact anyone here. I'm sure aurors would have helped you. You could have told me they are my children. I would have made sure nothing happens to you," Harry pointed out. He felt a little betrayed, that Draco didn't consider coming to him even once.

"Don't be a saviour, Harry," Draco spat in the voice he used to call him Potter, "I could protect myself and the children. Besides, I don't know. I guess, I felt relieved to get out. I just did not see much of a life for myself here. I did not leave for a girl, but I did stay for one. We had built five year's worth of life. It was too good to let go of. So even when Vesta died I couldn't see a reason to leave this life."

"Makes sense, mate." Ron said pointedly. He really didn't need Harry's jealousy to butt in right now.

Harry was about to think of a retort, but then a look at Draco's nervous face made him calm down. Now was not the time.

"What did you do after you killed Morris."

"I mourned my wife. We lived in a remote area so it wasn't like anyone was going to come and see everything. Several hours later I finally got myself together and used my magic for the last time to bury Morris. I used spells to clean up after myself. By the time the ambulance got there I had gotten rid of any magical evidence. A week later we held a small funeral and a month later we moved here."

"I see." Ron frowned. "Could you show me where you buried him? Seeing his dead body would rule out a few options from my already short list of possibilities. I don't think this is a polyjuice case, but making sure never hurts."

"Sure. If one of you just could sidealong apparate me?"

"Of course, but first let me call a few more aurors. Since I have already informed Kingsley, I can't go cracking this case on my own."

When Ron had left the room to call a few of his colleagues, Draco turned to Harry.

"Thank you Harry. I— it's hard, but I'm glad you managed to knock some sense into me."

Harry smiled, "Well, that's what we've always done. Even when we were enemies. Then we tried to hex the stupidity out of each other, now we are standing side by side until the bout of moronity is over."

Draco sniffed to hide the small smile that threatened his lips.

Ron's return broke the moment of warmth. "Another big case came up, so it seems like I do get to crack this case on my own. Of course, with your assistance."

\-----

A moment later they had apparated in front of an old abandoned house. It was obvious that with a little bit of work the place would have been wonderful for a family of four. Maybe it had been before the gruesome death of Vesta. Now it just looked like a very sad and lonely dwelling.

Draco didn't waste time. He immediately began to walk towards the very unkempt backyard, all the way to the farthest corner. Several steps away from the exact spot he came to a halt.

"I buried him here."

Ron cast a spell to dig the grave open. It was empty.

"Draco, are you sure the grave was here?" Ron asked, as he knelt down to poke around to see if the bones were there after all.

"I'm definitely sure I buried him there."

"There's nothing in here," Ron said.

"I can see that Weasley!" Draco hissed. Fear began to gnaw at his mind. What if he hadn't managed to kill the man after all? What if he'd buried him alive and Morris had found a way to get out? Morris was angry, that's why he was drawing out this insane chase. Otherwise, Draco had been so off guard, Morris could have just entered their house and killed them all in one blow.

Panic took over him, ignoring Ron's questions Draco focused on the link. He knew he couldn't locate the twins, but he needed to make sure his children were alive. Any feeling, even a wave of fear would do. Draco closed his eyes and began to tap into the link. The twins were there. He could feel them. He just couldn't make sense of their feelings.

Draco was brought back when Harry put his hand on Draco's shoulder. "Draco, Ron found a ring."

When Draco looked back at the ginger man, he saw a tiny wedding band resting in the middle of his large palm. "Wait. That looks like Sarah's wedding ring."

Draco wanted to pick it up to take a better look, but Ron drew his hand back. "Evidence." Instead he levitated the ring in front of Draco so he could take a better look.

Draco had spent so much time inspecting the ring when Sarah had helped him pick a ring to propose Vesta, that it didn't take more than a glance for him to recognize it. He told so to Ron.

"It shouldn't be here. That ring is very important to her."

"There has to be some sort of explanation why we found it by the grave," Harry interrupted. He had a bad feeling about this.

He had seen healer Morris. The man was so old and so fragile. Harry could see how a young and strong wizard like Draco was able to take him down, specially when the former was preoccupied in ghastly acts.

"Draco?" Harry interrupted Draco and Ron's bickering again.

"Yeah?"

"Polyjuice potion requires the person being transformed into to be alive. Do you think there could be some way to do it with parts of a dead person?"

"How would I know that? You couldn't possibly imply that Sarah polyjuiced into Morris to kill my children."

"I'm not implying anything. Not yet. I'm just asking you because you are good at potions. Do you think there could be a way to change the potion?"

"Harry, Sarah and John moved next door only a year later after we moved. They adore the twins. Alec and Hestia are dating. There's no way they are behind this."

It went always like this in cases where a loved one committed the crime. If Harry hadn't been faster then Ron would have tried to snap Draco out of it. 

"Don't you think it is oddly convenient that Sarah's ring is here. Or that they moved next door to you soon after you killed Morris. Or that Morris just waltzed through your wards. It had to be someone who was allowed to get past your wards. I have no idea why they drew it out for so long but you never had escaped anything at all. You were always under their surveillance."

To Harry's dismay, Draco stubbornly refused to even try and consider it. "I learnt to mow the lawn with John's help, Sarah taught me how to change damn bulbs. Alec isn't just dating my daughter, he's grown up with her. He could practically be my own child. There's no way it's them."

"Draco think about it. Their involvement just feels shady. First Alec, who has never caused any trouble, manages to cause ruckus with a muggle photo, that's perfectly labeled with their middle names. Then right after I visit you, the twins are attacked."

"Now, that is a coincidence. Your involvement has nothing to do with this case. And that photo has always been labeled. I normally call them by their middle names, picked the habit up from Vesta. Besides I know what photo you are talking about. Alec had talked about his teacher, Mr. Potter, interrogating him about it."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe Alec is not involved at all. But we still shouldn't rule his parents out. Think hard. Has either of them ever acted in a weird way? Said something that could have had more to it than what it sounded like?" Ron intervened in a very aurorly fashion.

Draco mulled over what Ron said under stunned silence. He wasn't so sure about Alec, or even John. However, after a little thinking, Sarah's involvement in their lives should have put him off a little. Not to mention how Hestia was convinced Sarah hated her for "stealing" Alec from her.

"Hessie couldn't really get along with Sarah. On the surface they looked normal, but she was kind of wary of her. She felt like Sarah was mad at her for snatching Alec from her."

"And now we have found Sarah's ring here," Harry said. His tone clearly saying 'I told you so'. Suddenly Ron froze and toppled over. Someone had cursed him with body-bind.

"He told you so," a voice startled Harry and Draco. "And don't try anything, because if something happens to me then you can say ta ta to your little abominations."

A blond woman in muggle clothes was standing right behind them with her wand pointed straight at Harry.

"Sarah." Draco frowned. He tried to step closer to her, but Sarah stepped away.

"Hi, Draco. I did expect to see you here, just not this soon. I thought I would be able to retrieve the ring before you came here to search good old Morris' grave," she drawled.

"What?" Draco asked, still refusing to see the truth.

"I thought it would be poetic for the kids to be here when I finally confront you. Right where they watched their mother die a slow, painful death."

"Hessie and Scorp are here? Where?" Draco spun around, frantically searching for the twins.

"Oh, you will find them soon enough."

"Sarah why are you doing this? We have never done anything to you."

Sarah ignored Draco and turned to Harry. "You know Mr. Potter, I really used to admire you. When Draco first told me all about Morris and his little dead wife, I hated the healer so much. How dare he blame you for tainting this already tainted bastard? It was the other way. He tainted you."

"What do you want?" Harry growled.

"What do I want? I wanted to think that this little snake was lying when he told us about you. I wanted you to kill him when you found him again. I wanted you to turn him away when he came to you for the treatment. I wanted to not have to do all of this on my own."

"He didn't come to me for the treatment. I offered him the option to stay with me."

"So you think. He does have extraordinary manipulation skills."

"Sarah, let Draco and the children go and I will do whatever it is you want me to," Harry tried to bargain with her.

"Whatever, you say? Didn't you hear me? I want you to kill those things he calls your children. Would you do that for me?"

"No. They _are_ my children. I wouldn't even scratch them, let alone kill them for you. Why are you doing this?" Harry spat.

"Because you wouldn't do what you should!" Sarah shouted, "This monster killed so many people, yet he gets to walk around freely. He gets off the hook, because you testified for him. And you know what? I was fine with it. Seeing him suffer everyday until the end of his life was so satisfying. All the other students bullying him into leaving the Wizarding world itself. But then a year later I found him again. I had so much fun watching him bump around in the muggle world. In my lowly world he used to hate so much. You wouldn't remember me, Draco. I was just another pizza delivery girl your wife turned away from the door as soon as she could, so she can't see the crazy magic levitating things inside."

"What? Sarah, you?" Draco couldn't find words for the betrayal he felt.

"Yes, me. I've been tracking you for a long time. Of course, my happiness lasted only until you started to get a little too cozy with that little wife of yours. I started to think of ways to kill your happiness. The easiest way to do that was to kill your family. The way your friends killed mine. I gutted her out like they did to my mother. I would have finished the twins too but then you came and killed my little puppet. It was so easy to control Morris' mind. The old, frail thing didn't hold much chance against me. Luckily, it wasn't in vain. I got to see you and your abominations suffer through years. You couldn't even go to a therapist. I wish my son hadn't messed things up the way he did. Alas, my husband and son don't quite share my views. I don't blame them. John is from America. He hasn't seen the horrors I did. Jake, on the other hand, wasn't even born then. But you know, they're affection for you grinds my gears. The way your daughter calls him Alec. My son has a first name too!"

Sarah was getting pent up, but not enough to let her guard down. She kept her distance from both Harry and Draco, and while her wand was pointed towards Harry, her eyes were sizing up both of them often enough for them to try anything.

"I had been planning to kill Hestia for quite some time already. Maybe Scorpius at the same time too. I wasn't really fond of the idea of having two Draco Malfoys around for the rest of my life. I was so close to achieving what I wanted but then Harry Potter himself came and saved them. No offense, Mr. Potter, but don't you think your priorities are a little askew. I mean, I spent years away from the Wizarding world to do it a favour, yet meanwhile it seems like all of you have forgotten just what a monster Draco Malfoy actually is." 

"He is not a monster. He was just a boy who couldn't choose otherwise," Harry defended Draco, "I testified for him because he deserved a chance, Sarah. We all lost someone in the war. The war does not justify your actions now. Besides he didn't even have anything to do with your family's death." Harry knew, because before testifying Harry had been through the file made against Draco. He had tortured people but never managed to kill anyone.

"I have never even seen your family. And trust me I know everyone I've hurt. Besides Vesta had nothing to do with the war, she did not choose to meet me. Yet, you gave her a painful death. Hessie and Scorp did not choose to be born from me. Yet you are hurting them," Draco stomped his foot angrily. "Look, just let them go. You can kill me, torture me slowly, make me your fucking slave, if you want to. Just let my children go! Let them all go and I will willingly come with you."

"You know, Draco. I'm quite enjoying your helplessness. You were always the helpless snotty brat. Threatening us with your almighty daddy and bullying us in a cowardly fashion. Have you ever won a single duel? Or even tried to duel anyone? Back then I could have never thought that you would turn into a filthy muggle yourself. Must be annoying to not be able to do anything at all. Unable to hex or curse me. However, I can't let you go. You and your stupid parents were the root of everything. You did not cast the curses and hexes yourself, but it was your shoulder the others propped their guns on." 

Draco hated to admit it, but Sarah was right. He stopped trying to reason with her and instead attempted to cast a spell, but despite trying hard he couldn't even form a spark.

Sarah began to laugh. "Give up, Draco. You haven't cast a single spell in years, apart from a few puny wards every now and then. You won't be able to do anything to me. As for the great Harry Potter. I really rooted for him, but alas, every great person falls. I kept giving him chances but every time he would get somehow tangled with you. It's about time I stopped this cycle."

She raised her wand higher, still aiming it at Harry. Before the first spell hit him, Harry had cast a shield around himself. Sarah shot another curse his way shattering the shield and hit him with another curse. Harry barely managed to get out of the way. Everything he'd learned through his work, and the few tricks Ron had taught him were finally coming handy but it was still hard to keep a vengeful witch under control.

"Draco! Go get the twins!" He shouted to Draco as he ducked away from the third attack.

Draco nodded and immediately went for the door of the abandoned old house.

"Don't you even try!" Sarah blasted a curse at Draco, but Harry was faster. He cast another shield letting Draco break through the door before Sarah could get past the shield.

"Sarah, you have done enough. Give up now, and I might spare you." Harry warned his opponent.

For a moment Sarah looked hesitant. She was torn between running after Draco and taking Harry down. However, the threat Harry was posing to her was bigger. Instead of going after Draco she cast a sealing curse on the door and then turned just in time to dodge a spell.

While Harry and Sarah dueled outside, Draco searched through the house. He found Alec first. The boy was sleeping peacefully on the ground in the living room.

"Alec!" Draco shook him, but couldn't wake him up. Sarah had cast some sort of a sleeping spell on him.

He got up and searched the other rooms. Next he found John laying right outside the kitchen. He had had it worse than his son. He was unconscious and there was a small bump on his forehead. Draco moved him carefully aside and went into the kitchen. Sarah had tied up the twins back to back, right in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"Hessie! Scorp!" Draco rushed to them and began to untie the ropes.

"Luc's stunned dad, she thought running her mouth when Sarah had a wand was a good idea," Scorpius rasped.

"Scorp! Oh, Scorpy thank Merlin you're alright," Draco exclaimed and tried to untie the ropes even faster.

"Well, as fine as I can get in this state. Specially in this mini me body. You can hate Matt all you want, but dating him made me physically stronger. You can't deny that."

"And gave you a tattoo you would have regretted if it didn't look cool," Draco chuckled in relief. If his son could croak about his ex boyfriend then Draco had nothing to worry about.

When Scorpius was out of the ropes Draco moved to Hestia, who had flopped on the floor when her brother had moved away.

"Go wake up Alec and John too if you can. Make them apparate you away from here. I'll go see how Harry is holding up." Draco instructed his son as he undid the last knot.

"Umm, how about no Dad? I'm not leaving you guys here."

Typical.

"Scorpius, I need you to get out of here. Harry and I can handle Sarah. Just go. Hessie. Can you hear me?"

"Dad, you take care of Luc, I'll go help Papa."

"Scorp, no! Scorpius Lewis Narcissus Malfoy, you will come back here, right now!" Draco shouted at the retreating back of his son.

Meanwhile outside, Harry was running out of energy. He hadn't had such a duel since the war, while his opponent had clearly had her fair share of practice beforehand. He was already running out of breath, not to mention the pain on his palms and in his knees. The continues ducking and dropping on the ground to avoid the hexes and curses was taking its toll. He dived behind a shrub before the curse Sarah had sent his way hit the ground and left a hole where he'd been standing just a moment ago. Harry let out a string of curses under his breath. He really should have listened to Ron and joined the auror training. 

He tried to get up but his lungs were stinging and the dive had hurt his knees even more.

"That shrub won't protect you forever Harry Potter!" Sarah shouted with a maliciously happy edge in her voice.

Harry tried to crawl away from the bush, but a tiny part of his brains was already praying that Ginny would take Albus with her if he doesn't survive. He was panting hard, the beating of his heart drowning whatever Sarah was trying to say. He shut his eyes. This was it, he would die while trying to save his children. He wasn't even sure if Draco had managed to escape yet. A tear rolled down his cheek. He couldn't believe he was leaving Albus behind the way his parents had left him. At least Albus would have loving people taking care of him.

Harry stayed still on the ground waiting for the fatal attack but none came. Instead he heard Sarah screaming angrily.

"You shouldn't be able to open that door!" 

"Sarah, you should put that wand down. You should have known better than try to hurt us," Scorpius said as he shut the door behind him.

Harry slowly got off the ground and peeked over the shrub. If it hadn't been for the muggle clothes Harry could have sworn Draco had shrunk into his twelve year old self. Scorpius was slowly walking towards Sarah, taking advanced of her shock at seeing him. Harry saw a perfect chance to attack Sarah, but she had already recovered from her shock and shifted her dueling from him to Scorpius. It was one thing to untangle clumsy students, and another thing to intervene two adults. Or one adult and one adult stuck in a child's body. They were moving too fast and there was a risk that Harry's spell would mesh with one of their spells and result a disaster. He still trained his wand at them, but then he noticed it. He should have realized it sooner. Harry moved his wand away from Sarah and Scorpius. The boy was doing surprisingly well despite his size.

Sarah's body-bind had been of the elementary level. She was all too cocky of her success to try something better. Harry cast a counter spell. It didn't take Ron long to return to normal. By then Sarah had gotten the advantage. She had relaxed again and was flicking curses around as if she was leading an orchestra. Ron didn't even stop to think who had freed him from the spell, instead he sprang up and cast a body-bind on the unsuspecting woman who had begun to shout her monologue over the sound of destruction she was causing.

There weren't enough words to express how much Ron loved giving her a taste of her own medicine. "I fucking hate monologues," he bellowed as loudly as he could and stunned the unsuspecting woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe it guys :D? Just one more chapter left!


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooo, look who took a year to finish a fic. 'Tis the end my friends.
> 
> A big shoutout to @MrsGinPotter for all your support ^^!!  
> Also thanks @melann and @sloanjennifer for your encouraging comments during the big edit!

**_12-13 yo._ **

He had to give it to the twins. Their skills were good for things other than keeping secrets and combatting too. The morphing image of the space on the ceiling was ethereal. The charmed stars were twinkling brightly in various colours and there were comets shooting from one end to the other. Each comet was followed by a very distant and faint swooshing sound. Apart from that the room was almost as silent as the real space. So silent that Ron could hear the light patter of Hermione's feet.

"Ron?"

"I'm here." He whispered from the guest room.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, rubbing her eyes. She was tired after her latest shift of three days to stabilize the twins.

"I was just checking in on the twins."

"Oh?" Hermione was surprised. After Ron's tantrum regarding the incident at the manor she'd thought he'd avoid them as best as he could.

Ron knew what Hermione was thinking, she had that puzzled look on her face. "They didn't seem to be doing well. I just wanted to make sure they are fine."

"You shouldn't worry, Ron. Sarah's spells did a number on Hestia which lead to instability in Scorpius. But they are completely stabilized now."

"I'm glad she is locked up in Azkaban now," Ron said, his eyes glinting fiercely. The woman deserved it after everything she'd done. Hurting innocent people, children, using necromancyeven if the victim wasn't any better himself. "But I didn't mean that," Ron got out into the hallway and closed the door of the guest room behind him.

Hermione waited for him to continue.

"Ever since they have returned they haven't been acting normal. The way they do. Hestia is— was such a chatter box, she barely talked today. Scorpius on the other hand. I know he is the silent one of the two of them but he has this liveliness to him." Ron sighed, his brows furrowed in worry.

Hermione smoothed the furrow away with her thumb, "They are just tired from the treatment. And everything else. They have been through a tense few weeks. It's just the exhaustion."

Ron moved her hand to his lips and gave a light peck on her thumb. "I know. But I can't help worrying. Just a month ago they were two little sneaky rascals running around in Blaise's play park. Now they look as horrible as we did after the war."

"I know. Fortunately, things can only go up from here," Hermione tried to smile reassuringly. She knew as well as Ron that there was still a very long road ahead before things could go back to how they were.

Ron was right. For two young children they had been through so much. Not to mention the aftermath. Being placed in a strange house away from their father so Ron could keep an eye on them, the coming trials, the remaining treatment and then the farewell. Hermione hoped and prayed she was right about things only going up from here.

"I hope so too. I just, I've grown attached to them. No matter how things work out I'll have to watch them leave. There is no way they are staying here after everything. I don't think I can do that. I mean they are not our children—"

"—but even if it was Albus, we would've she'd as many tears as Harry would've. I know Ron." Hermione intertwined her fingers with Ron's.p and led him back to their room.

With his gruff auror attitude sometimes it was easy to forget what a big and soft heart Ron had.

**_13-14 yo._ **

"So."

"So?" Scorpius looked up from the heavy tomb of a book he was reading.

"Your dad has gone on a date?"

Draco had left when Harry was at the Burrow to check up on Albus. When he came back Kreacher told him (more like grumbled) that Draco had left on a date. Then he grumbled some more but Harry didn't have the time to listen to Kreacher's endless complaining. There was no way Draco could go on a date after everything they had been through together. This time he was sure he hadn't read any signs wrong.

"Yes, we promised this one very hot looking colleague of Dad's that we'd get him a date with Dad. With this stupid renaissance we kind of ended up bailing on him, but he gave us another chance," Hestia explained.

"Oh," Harry said demurely, but he was relieved. Just a little though. There still was a chance that this date would turn out charming and turn this whole thing from obligatory to voluntary.

"Yeah. We told him Dad's parents got like super ill so we couldn't stay in touch. Lucky for us, he is the sweetest guy we know. He told us it was okay, and because Dad must be in need of some pampering he reserved a table in the French restaurant," Scorpius told with a proud smile making Harry's insides twist.

As if a date in a French restaurant was the best thing anyone could do for Draco. But on a second thought it was a very smart move. Certainly charming enough for Draco.

"You mean the one close to the shopping mall?" Hestia asked. She wasn't really aware of the details since Scorpius did most of the talking.

"Nope, the one if you go left from home and walk past the bridge."

"What kind of restaurant do we have in there? I hope they have good wine. The one near the shopping mall sold some hideous wine. It shouldn't even be called wine."

"It's the big new building you would have noticed if you weren't busy eating Alec's face last year."

"Ha, ha, ha, Cissy," Hestia spat.

"Well, then. I'll leave you two to, erm, reading. I have some essays to catch up on." Harry hastily left the room before the siblings could tangle him into a full blown fight. Ever since Sarah's arrest, any mention of Jacob made Hestia cranky.

"Papa, are you sure you have to go right now?" Scorpius called out after him, a tinge of fear of his sister evident in his voice.

When he was sure Harry had left the room entirely he turned to his sister, "How long do you think it'll take Papa to find the restaurant?"

"It took him only a walk around the block to find us. I'm sure he'll get there before Dad loses his shit." Hestia smiled conspiratorially to her brother.

"A colleague, seriously?"

"I don't think it'll take long before Dad moves here. Of course, he'll get a job in Hogwarts, because he's awesome, and a teacher. So yeah technically they are colleagues."

"I guess." Scorpius shrugged his shoulders. "By the way, Luc?"

"Yeah?"

"All jokes aside, how are you and Alec doing?"

"I'm doing fine." Hestia shrugged her shoulders.

"And him?"

"How would I know?"

"Right. Do you—"

"No."

"I didn't even—"

"I said no."

Scorpius eyed his sister and then went back to reading his book, leaving Hestia to her book.

\-----

Harry crossed the street briskly and stopped behind the wide window. He really had no reason to be there, but with Molly still keeping Albus at the Burrow and Hestia in a bad mood, probably already fighting with Scorpius, Harry didn't feel like staying at home.

"L'amore. So original," Harry snorted at the name of the restaurant. It hadn't taken him too long to find the place. Despite the name, the restaurant itself was very grand and royal looking. Totally a place Draco might like. Harry knew he was making another stupid decision, but all in all it had worked out fine for him last time. He had two more children now. Maybe this time he'll snag the dad.

It seemed like the restaurant was having a slow evening. Many of the tables were empty and there were a few waiters just loitering in the sidelines. Harry let himself be directed to an empty table. He looked around, but couldn't see the bunch of curled brown hair with Malfoy white roots pushing through anywhere.

Harry focused on the menu card in front of him. After giving the overly eager waiter his order, he took out the essays.

After learning about everything Headmistress McGonagall had been very angry with Harry for not telling her. According to her it was an utmost insult to her that she had to learn about everything from Rita Skeeter's sensational article. She had told him to take a year off, but Harry had insisted that McGonagall should let him stay. Eventually, she caved in and told him to stay home until the twins were cured. Meanwhile, she let him take on all the extra work. After the war the Wizarding world had had its own baby boomer phase so Hogwarts had way more students than it had ever had before. Any pair of helping hands was more than welcome.

That's why he was reading through potions essays again. He wished he'd been back home, with Draco, who'd help him out with the essays while Harry would discreetly stare at the tattoo tendrils poking from under his sleeves and collar.

Although it took him a while, he finally started to get immersed into the poorly written essays. Harry should have known that extra work meant helping out the new potions professor. He would have to have a conversation with McGonagall about her. She was a nice young lady but Harry didn't think she was the best for a teaching position. If it had been only one group, Harry could have blamed the particular group, but it seemed like all of her groups were having trouble with their essays, not to mention the worrisome stories about the mishaps during the lessons.

Harry was so caught up in the essays he didn't notice someone had slipped into the seat opposite to him before this someone spoke up.

"What brings you here, Potter?"

Harry looked up and saw Draco smiling back at him. He looked dashing. He'd worn a light grey muggle shirt and a rich brown, intricately embroidered, vest over it, that complimented his curls. His curly hair was gelled revealing some of the blond undercut, usually hidden by the loose curls.

"Your hair looks different," Harry said.

Draco chuckled, "Well, its grown longer. And I've gelled it—"

"No. There's something else."

"—Ten points for gryffindor for good observation skills," Draco chuckled, "Hessie charmed a gradient so the blond roots wouldn't look stupid. She said I should let it grow naturally now, I'm not really sure," Draco pouted.

"Your natural blond hair looks extremely good. I don't mind the curls though, sometimes I feel like you could rock almost anything if you wanted to."

Draco chuckled a little. "Now you are just flattering me. The Mohawk didn't look nearly as good as it looks on Hessie. It's a pity her hair grew back during the treatment. Anyway, you haven't answered my question."

Draco held Harry's gaze, his grey eyes glinting in the soft lighting of the restaurant.

"I just needed to get out of home. Scorp brought up Jacob again. I had these essays to check so I couldn't stay there to witness another screaming match."

Harry regretted his excuse as soon as it had left his mouth. Draco's smile dropped and his brows pinched into a frown.

"I'm sorry about that, Harry. I should talk about that to the twins."

"Don't worry about that. I understand that Hessie needs time. Both her and Jacob do. It must be hard for both of them. Usually I wouldn't mind. In fact, I might have even tried to talk to her about it. But I'm not exactly close enough with her to give her relationship advice. And I needed to finish these essays for tomorrow."

Draco relaxed a little, but only a little. Harry tried to think of a way to bring the earlier smile back on his lips.

"Potions essays, I believe."

"Yeah. How did you guess?"

"You get that pained look whenever you are working on anything potions related."

It was Harry's turn to chuckle. "Is it that obvious?"

"Unfortunately," Draco smiled back. "You know you are lucky they let you come in here. They have a... more formal dress code. Out of all the places why here?"

"It was the closest place." Harry blurted without thinking, and regretted his excuse again.

Draco raised an eyebrow expectantly, waiting for Harry to come clean. Harry just dropped his head, pretending to check the essays, to hide his embarrassment.

"This is not the closest place to Grimmauld Place, Harry."

"To be honest, it's the atmosphere. I've always liked the atmosphere here."

"A sexually charged restaurant half full of love birds? Seriously Harry? That's the kind of a workplace environment you prefer?" Draco asked, his eyebrow raised in amusement.

Harry blushed even further. He could feel the tips of his ears heat up. "Well, its, umm— What about you? How come you are here? You have even dressed up? Here for a date?" Harry rambled.

"Kind of, I've been stood up by my date. I promised Hessie and Scorp I would try this time. They keep setting me up for blind dates all the time. Usually, I spoil all their plans. But apparently this guy has waited long enough for me so I should try to be civil to him."

"Oh. That's unfortunate. I mean, that he hasn't showed up yet."

Harry didn't find it unfortunate at all. He couldn't believe his own children would set up his crush with someone else. Then again, just being their father didn't mean that they would know he had a crush on Draco. He would have to tell them, which he hadn't. Only thing he did find unfortunate was that he hadn't thought about a date in a French restaurant. He'd never really thought that unlike him Draco had been alone for years and the chances of him going around on dates were high.

"It indeed is. I usually give them all only ten minutes before leaving. I can't even begin to explain how annoyed I am that I went and promised to stay civil until midnight."

"What?! So if he doesn't show up, you'll wait here until midnight?" Harry couldn't believe it.

"The restaurant closes at eleven. I thought you would know it." Draco smirked. "After eleven I'd wait outside."

"But that's just insane!" Harry exclaimed, ignoring Draco's comment on his slip up.

"I know. I didn't have the heart to say no to them after everything they have been through."

"I understand," Harry said, giving Draco's hand a quick reassuring squeeze. 

"If I could, I would have stayed home, and forced you stay home too. We could have roasted all your students together and you wouldn't have to spy on me under a poor guise," Draco confessed with a knowing grin.

Harry blushed in embarrassment. "We can do it here too, while you wait for your date. I mean you are here, I am here and the essays are here too. Have you ordered yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Let's order for you first and then we can go through these." Harry shook an essay in front of Draco's face.

Harry and Draco spent the following two hours eating and going through the essays, and before they even noticed it, a waiter came and told them they needed to leave as it was closing time. They paid the bill and Harry packed the essays into his bag. Once they were out Harry brought up Draco's failed date again.

"I'm sorry you couldn't meet your date today."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault and I wasn't really looking forward to this date anyway. Besides, there are some other people too, who have waited long enough." 

Harry wasn't sure if the tint on Draco's cheeks was caused by the wine they'd drank or something else. Harry hoped for the latter.

"You can always meet up with the bloke again. Call him up and ask him why he couldn't make it to the date," Harry said, not letting his hopes up yet.

"Nah, I don't have his number. Remember, it's a blind date arranged by Scorp and Hessie. I'll just tell them I didn't like him. They'll leave me alone until he informs them. If he does."

"You sound like you have been through this too many times."

"I have."

"And you have never met anyone who could hold your interest for long enough?"

"Not beyond the first date. Occasionally a night. I believe, you might have noticed that I have a very acquired taste in my partners. It's hard to commit to people who don't fall in line with my tastes.

"I have noticed," Harry said. His heart was fluttering. He did know what Draco's taste was like.

Harry let silence fall between them as he gathered courage.

"Your taste is curly hair. Like Vesta's"

"Yes, I do like curly hair. The more untamed it is, the more I love it." Draco mumbled. Barely loud enough for Harry to hear.

"And light coloured eyes."

"Green as slytherin." Draco came to a halt and turned to Harry.

Vesta's eyes weren't slytherin green, Harry's were.

"And scars?" Harry finally took the chance.

"Scars like sickly tree branches."

"And who act first and think second."

"Like bloody gryffindors," Draco whispered, "Like you, Harry."

Harry beamed. He closed the remaining short distance between them and pressed his lips softly on Draco's. They stood like that for who knew how long. Too stunned to move away, yet at the same time too stunned to do anything else. Only able to register the warmth of each other's lips. Finally, it was a late night jogger, who made them step grudgingly apart.

"I—" they both started and stopped to let each other speak.

"It was—" they started again before stopping again.

They chuckled awkwardly, but then Harry closed the distance again. This time he deepened the kiss, and to his delight Draco let him. When they finally broke the kiss Harry looked into Draco's eyes.

"I hope you have finally found someone to gauge your interest for a second date." He looked expectantly at Draco.

"I think I have."

\-----

A little while later they skulked past the living room, careful not to wake up the twins who'd fallen asleep on the couch with their books. Once the coast was clear Hestia cracked her eyes open.

"Cissy!"

"Uh huh?"

"We need to update aunt Pansy!"

"We can do it in the morning," Scorpius drawled sleepily.

"We can't. Aunt Pansy will have our heads on stakes if we don't update her right now."

"Luc, I'm tired. We just got home like a day and a half ago. Let me get a good night's sleep."

"Cissy, please," Hestia insisted. Her voice had that tinge of sadness Scorpius knew all too well. She was having a hard time sleeping again.

"Let's go to Albus' room then."

\-----

"It's rang three times already. Do you think they've fallen asleep?" Hestia asked.

Before Scorpius could answer her Pansy picked up the phone and greeted them, "Hey, my chipmunks!"

"Hi, aunt Pansy," Hestia giggle like a little child. Scorpius let her do the talking. Anything to keep her mind off of Alec.

"Did it work?" Pansy asked in anticipation.

"I'm not sure. But they sure skulked in together and then tiptoed upstairs."

"How many doors did you hear close?"

"Umm, I don't know," Hestia confessed, she was too scared of slipping in her act of sleeping to concentrate on anything else. "Cissy, how many doors did you hear?"

"I wasn't really listening." Scorpius shrugged his shoulders. "The main door for sure, and the rooms upstairs are just way too far for us to hear."

Hestia repeated Scorpius' words to Pansy.

"Aww, crap. Now we won't know if it worked. Well, I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah. Sorry, we should have thought it out better on our part."

"It's okay, munchkin. Now go get some sleep both of you. Good night!"

"Good night, aunt Pansy!" Hestia blew her a kiss and ended the phone call.

"Bummer, now we have to wait until tomorrow. If we can even pick up the signs."

"I'm sure we will," Scorpius assured her.

"Should we tell them if things have worked out?"

"Nope. If they haven't figured it out themselves it'll take the magic, the romantic zing, away from the story. Can't ruin it for when they'll tell Albus and potential other ones in the future," Scorpius said.

"Do you think there will be potential new ones in the future."

"They're only in like their mid-thirties, that's the age people nowadays even start considering settling down. They have plenty of time for new ones. Besides, if we are going to take Mom's name, they'll need a Malfoy since there's already one mini Potter."

Hestia nodded in the dark, not really expecting her brother to see it. "Night, Cissy."

"Night, Luc."

While Hestia and Scorpius tiptoed back to the couches in the living room, on the other side of the city Blaise got an unexpected visitor.

"Pans?"

"Hey! I brought you some late night snack," Pansy walked up to the new dragon themed whack-a-mole Blaise was working on.

"Oh hey there! Thanks. You shouldn't have." Blaise put his wand back into his pocket. The new machine was ready almost ready and he was sure he would be done with it if he worked a few more hours.

"Right, I should have let you starve for that whack-a-mole."

"It's a whack-a-drake." Blaise corrected her making her spin on her heels.

"It's a what? Are you kidding me?"

"What? A perfect name for a dragon themed game."

"It's not, Blaise Zabini, and you know it. You know Draco goes by Drake, don't you? If I didn't know any better I would have thought that the idea is to smack tiny figurines of Draco back into the holes they crawled out from."

Blaise threw his head back and laughed. "That's not a bad idea. But I'd rather save it for Harry on their future anniversaries. How did the matchmaking go, by the way?"

"Perfect," Pansy grinned. "The twins said that they _skulked_ in. I'm sure they definitely kissed."

"Hmm. Yeah, I can't really picture them taking things fast yet. But trust me once they cross _that_ line they'll marry in less than a few months."

"I'd bet on two to three months."

"I'm not so sure, I'd go for five to six months."

"If I win a spa day in France, if you win a visit to the local orphanage?" Pansy extended her hand to seal the bet.

Blaise was about to shake her hand for the spa day, this time he had a feeling Pansy was going to win and he didn't mind. Whatever Pansy came up as his reward wasn't going to be nearly as much fun as a relaxing weekend in an exquisite French hotel with his wife, but then he registered what Pansy had said.

He regarded Pansy carefully. He saw now what he hadn't noticed before. First tip-off should have been Pansy even showing up at the play park in the first place. Blaise knew she detested coming there unless she had to. Bringing late night snack for him wasn't a had to situation. The second tip-off was her overall appearance. She was wearing casual clothes, but there was a very Pansy like organization in her appearance. The type she only had on when they needed to discuss something important and she needed to look as genuine and raw as possible yet as poised as possible as well.

"You don't mean it Pans," Blaise pulled his hand back.

"I do completely mean it."

"Pansy, don't." Blaise turned away and carded his hand through his hair in frustration. He knew how Pansy felt about children. He knew she didn't like the play park, a grotesque reminder of something she could never have.

"Blaise, look at me." Pansy said sternly. When Blaise didn't turn she stepped in front of him. "I know what you are thinking, Blaise. I know you think I hate all those children and this park, and you _were_ right. After what that man in the pub did to you I felt bitter at the sight of children. I thought I could never get the happiness I craved for. But now..." Pansy trailed off.

"Now what?"

"After seeing Draco I've come to realize that all these years of anger didn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's ours. All that matters is how much love we can give. When I saw Harry play with the twins before he knew they were his, or when I heard about Draco's ex-wife I felt something new. If they could do it then why can't I. Only thing depriving me from the happiness is my bitterness and I don't want to torture myself like this anymore. I've been doing it for far too long."

"Pansy, it's a big decision."

"I know. We have waited long enough. I think it's time we finally joined the rest of them on the bandwagon."

Pansy cupped Blaise's face and stood on her toes to kiss him. Blaise wrapped his palms over Pansy's.

Blaise broke the kiss for a brief moment. "Thank you, Pansy."

"Thank you for waiting for me to come around." Pansy kissed him again.

**_14-15 yo._ **

The clatter and noise around the dinner table was like the sweetest melody to Narcissa. It had been years since she had enjoyed a meal like this. Her family was there and it was complete, instead of just her and Lucius holding onto what was left. For the first time in years Narcissa felt like everything was alright and she couldn't ask for more.

To Draco's surprise neither her nor Lucius were shocked when Draco told them that he was dating Harry now. Everyone who knew the two of them had seen it coming the moment Draco moved in with Harry for the treatment. Narcissa only regretted not being able to meet the lovely lady who saved her son all those years ago. However, the lack was made up for by Scorpius and Hestia. According to Draco, they acted a lot like Draco's ex-wife. Which was pretty apparent, they had bubbly and unrestricted natures, unlike what Malfoys traditionally were like.

"Are you sure you are not craving for Matt?" Was the first thing she heard her son say when Draco and the twins came to the dining hall.

"TMI Dad," Scorpius nodded his head towards the table where everyone was waiting for them. "And no, I'm not _feeling like going back_ to Matt. If you have failed to notice then let me enlighten you, we already got all our memories back so hormones of these mini bodies can't really affect us."

"Dad, that was the stupidest question you've ever asked," Hestia added.

"Almost, Luc. You are forgetting the both times Dad proposed. As if it makes any sense to propose to someone who's already been sharing a house and kids with you. I really don't understand what either Mom or Papa saw in you."

With a sigh Draco let the last comment slide. The hormones weren't affecting them. As if. Better just let the teenagers let out the fumes. It was a matter of a few days anyway. He'd been through years of hormones, a few days were like an annoying mosquito next to his ear compared to that.

"Good morning guys!" Scorpius slid into the chair next to Albus. He had taken a shine to his younger brother which Narcissa had taken into account when making the seating arrangement for the brunch. Hestia sat between her uncle Ron and aunt Pansy.

"Morning uncle Ron," Hestia chirped to Ron, making Hermione laugh. Ron's attempt to hide his soft spot for the twins was funny. He tried to maintain a professional auror expression but the corners of his lips twitched in an attempt of forming a smile making him blush.

"What about me?" Pansy asked in pretended offense.

"Oh, aunt Pansy. Could the night even give way to the morn if you didn't need some of that sweet sweet D-vitamin for your beauty?" Hestia batted her eyelashes.

"Come here you little sweet talking serpent." Pansy pulled Hestia into a tight hug. "I've missed you two."

"And we've missed you."

"Good morning, Scorpius. Hestia," Narcissa smiled to her grandchildren.

"Morning Gran, morning Gramps!" They said in unison, earning acknowledging nods from their grandparents.

"How are you feeling today?" Hermione asked.

"Just fine, but my tattoo is itching a little, like it used to when I first got it." Scorpius frowned at his arm as if he could itch the tattoo hidden by the sleeves of his robes with his gaze.

"Same here. The backs of my ears are aching too," Hestia confessed.

"You guys have tattoos?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow, in everyone's behalf.

"Yeah. I know we're too young, it's illegal and so on. Dad gave that lecture to us already once. I've got one from when I joined Matt's moped gang, there was this one dude who didn't ask for age if we paid enough."

"And how much was the amount?" Blaise asked. It was hard to imagine Scorpius having anything that could be enough of a payment in such an arrangement.

"Video games," Hestia said.

Draco snorted. He remembered that embarrassing fiasco of a relationship. His son's first Romeo. Only thing good about the relationship had been the tattoo. He even knew the tattoo artist. The guy was such a game junkie that he'd make any tattoo for anyone who paid him in games.

"Luc has more tats. The ones behind her ears were her firsts." Scorpius continued.

"That's interesting," Blaise smiled. "Can we see the tattoo on your arm?"

Before Narcissa could reprimand them for such improper behavior during a meal Scorpius had pushed the sleeve of his robes up to show off a tattoo of a vintage looking moped with a quote written in black ink on his pale arm.

Blaise whistled. "That's a nice one."

Narcissa wanted to point out to Blaise that he did have the manners that the twins didn't so he should act accordingly, but to her delight Pansy swatted his arm and hissed something making Blaise regain his composure. Draco too, glared at Scorpius' making the boy quickly drop his sleeve back down.

They began their meal and for a while the twins were pushed to the background as the adults caught up among themselves and cooed over Rose and Albus. When the meal was over and they all had shifted to the sitting room the twins were brought to the centre of everyone's attention again.

"Hermione was telling me you are— your physical ages fall between fourteen and fifteen. How old were you again when you came here?" Narcissa asked.

"We'd recently turned nineteen," Scorpius told.

"Wonderful, we still have some time. Do you think, Harry dear, that headmistress McGonagall could let them join with the older classes if we got them admitted now?"

"Admitted? Where?"

"To Hogwarts, or course, my dear," Narcissa explained to Hestia.

"Wouldn't it be hard to admit us for only a month?" Scorpius asked, his eyebrow arched, not in the cunning way of Malfoys, but in a more confused way. Narcissa imagined it was something Vesta or Harry did.

"Who said anything about a month? You will take as much time as you need to learn everything."

Both Scorpius and Hestia looked at their father in panic. They had been planning to tell Narcissa but not this soon, not before they were completely treated.

Draco had the deer in the headlights look too, while everyone else shifted uncomfortably around them. No one else except Narcissa and Lucius had expected them to stay.

"Actually mother, I was going to talk about it to you later," Draco said, putting emphasis on later.

"It's alright, we are all family here," Lucius insisted.

Draco looked around the room in apprehension. He knew no one else but his parents would resist, even so he felt bad about saying it out loud.

"The twins are going back home after their treatment," Draco finally said and then quickly added, "but I might stay here."

The frozen smile on Narcissa's face finally fell. "Don't take it the wrong way darling, but what is the use of going back there? You have everything you need here, family, friends, _magic_. Furthermore, it isn't suitable for Malfoy heirs to live somewhere else when the Manor is still standing."

"We're not Malfoys. And you don't have wifi in here," Hestia blurted.

If the creases on Narcissa's face weren't already so deep, Pansy and Blaise would have laughed at Hestia's lack of tact.

Scorpius rolled his eyes at his sister's stupidity. "Gran, I understand, but _our_ life and friends and everything is in there."

"You can't be serious," Lucius spoke up again, "anyone else in your place would have been thrilled to stay here. Learn magic and be surrounded by real family and friends."

"Father, its not about that. I'm sure they would have considered staying here if it weren't for the life they'd be leaving behind. They are perfectly trained in magic and we can always come back to visit," Draco rushed to explain. He knew what his father could be like when he wanted to have things his way. The twins wouldn't be able to handle such a stubborn man on their own. They were just as happy-go-lucky as their mother had been.

"You just said you will stay," Narcissa said pointedly, her eyes glossing over even before Draco had said anything.

Draco felt his heart break a little. "Mother, I said I _might_ stay here but I have too much back there too. My work, my colleagues, the house, my hobbies."

"You mean the backstabbing Joneses, your puny job of herding other people's children and your plebeian hobbies?"

"It was just Sarah," Hestia interrupted the adults. She couldn't handle her Alec and his father being. lumped together with the woman who tried to kill her, even if they were related by blood.

"Your Grandfather is just looking out for you. You are so young, my dear. You don't understand yet what's best for you." Narcissa attempted to calm Hestia.

"I know too!" Hestia shot up and stomped her foot before vanishing with a click of her tongue leaving her grandparents baffled and scandalized by her behavior.

Draco got up and addressed the guests apologetically. "I'm sorry their hormones. I believe we should end today's brunch here. I will get in touch soon."

Ron and Hermione were the first ones to get up. "I had fun today. Thank you for inviting us." Hermione kissed Draco on both cheeks surprising him.

As she moved on to Narcissa and Lucius for similar farewells Ron shook Draco's hand. "Good luck with the teenagers," he grinned. He had the experience from his own family, and wished the very best for Draco over the next few days.

Pansy and Blaise were the next to go. They thanked Narcissa for the meal and hugged Draco for a tad too long. No hugs could be enough to ease the coming, more permanent, farewell.

Draco turned to Harry but the latter man had already left. If he was upset Draco wouldn't blame him. Something had just begun to blossom between them and Draco had already half let go of it. He was still going to talk to Harry, just in case Harry might want to try to make it work.

"Scorpius, go to your room," Draco ordered. Mercifully, he didn't put up a fight. The tense situation at hands was enough for his hormones. With a click of a tongue Scorpius was gone too.

"Draco—"

"Mother, we can talk about this later. I need to find Hessie first." Draco ignored his parents and left the room to look for his daughter.

\-----

"Hessie?"

Hestia turned only enough to be able to see who had called her name.

"Hey, Papa." She turned back towards the pond. "You're here about my utter embarrassment, aren't you?"

"Not really. Everyone else left already so I decided to take a stroll."

Harry sat down next to Hestia and dipped his water into the pool as well. He propped Albus up on his lap so that Albus could kick the surface of the water but not slip from his grip.

"I don't blame you for wanting to go back."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You might not want to but you need to."

Hestia pulled her feet out of the water, about to leave, but Harry stopped her.

"Hestia, please."

Hestia slowly sat down again.

"Why don't you tell me about the tattoos?" Harry offered.

Hestia pushed her hair away from her face and revealed the tattoo of a shooting star behind her ear. "I got tats to join Scorp, cause dad can't be mad at both of us at once."

"I see, a rebel against the government," Harry joked. Right then Albus kicked hard making water splash everywhere

Hestia's nose crunched up because of her tiny smile, "Kind of." She splashed a little water back at Albus making him giggle.

"What came next?" Harry was intrigued. If he'd met the Hestia who had shut the door into his face he never might've even been interested in the story behind the tattoos and piercings, but now it felt like each week a new secret was being unraveled.

"I cast a bit too potent charm on my hair cause I thought Alec likes silky straight hair. He thought I like buff boys. But two months of only gym can't turn a noodle into a roasted chicken."

Harry smiled. The teenage years, and the stupid decisions made to please one's crush. Harry didn't have many of those of his own, but he had too many recollections of Ron and Hermione. "You really love him don't you?"

"I don't know if you can call it love," Hestia shrugged her shoulders.

"How so?"

"I mean, Gran was right. I'm too young to know right from wrong. She's got experience, all I've got is my gut feeling. Right now my gut feeling is telling me to go back home to our normal life, though my priority is Alec. I've know Alec since forever and when I'm with him all the corny love songs about being understood start to make sense. I don't know if we'll last forever but I don't want to let go of it just because Gran is worried."

"She may be right, but it doesn't make you wrong either. I can't really relate to you all that well, when we were young—"

"You were busy running from Voldemort."

"Pretty much. But I still had Ginny. Our romance wasn't exactly the same as yours. Even though things didn't work out for us, I don't really regret any of the time we spent together. Then there's your Dad. Things weren't the most ideal between him and your Mom either, but I'm sure he doesn't regret it. The heartbreak sometime in the future should not keep you from pursuing the happiness right now."

"You know Papa," Hestia said as she scooted closer to Harry and rested her head on his shoulder, "Dad gave me a similar speech a few years back when I told him that I thought Sarah hates me."

"He was right," Harry rested his head against Hestia's. Albus blubbered something about the water.

"I know. Dad is always right. He's even right about you."

"About me?"

"Well, he hasn't said it. But he thinks you like his tattoos so he roams around showing as many of them as he can." Hestia referred to the tank tops Draco had taken to wearing ever since the evening at the restaurant.

She wasn't wrong about Harry liking Draco's tattoos. He had memorized every twist and turn of the smoky tendrils.

"I don't see how that makes any sense."

"You've got crushes on each other, that's how it makes sense," Hestia declared in her blunt way.

Whatever retort Harry had got cut short by Hestia, "Dad feels bad about having to leave. We do too. You guys have done so much for us, yet we are leaving just like that."

"Oh sweetie," Harry turned his head to give a peck on the top of her head, "Trust me, no matter what you guys choose to do, we all will support your decision. Just because you are leaving doesn't mean things have to end. Loved ones can't be left behind just like that, and we all, every single one of us love you. Even Uncle Ron."

"But do I love him? That is the question," Hestia said jokingly.

"Don't let him hear that or he'll start snitching to Kingsley." Harry smiled.

"As if. Uncle Ron might not confess it but we have him wrapped around our finger. We have all of you wrapped around our finger, except Molly. She frightens me."

"She frightens all of us."

They sat there for a while. Only sound coming from Albus' feet splashing in the water.

"Papa, which one of Dad's tattoos is your favorite one?" Hestia suddenly asked.

Harry blushed. "I haven't seen them all yet."

"Papa, you two are already officially dating. If you confessed about your little thing for Dad's tattoos you won't die."

"As stubborn as your Dad."

"As stubborn as all three of my parents," Hestia retorted, making Harry laugh.

Harry ruffled her hair, "All of our stubbornness combined if I were to tell. But it doesn't mean you get to ask that," he reprimanded Hestia.

"Right, I'm really not all that interested now that you mentioned." 

Albus squealed making Harry's answer drown under his voice. He was getting braver with the water and it was getting harder for Harry to control the baby with one hand.

"Let's get inside. Dad must be worried." Hestia said pulling her legs out of the pond.

"Yup. Just give me a hand." Harry handed Albus to Hestia and got up too.

They headed back inside to face Draco's wrath together for making him worry over Hestia's whereabouts when Harry had already found her.

**_15-16 yo._ **

The only sounds apart from Harry's breathing were Draco's breathing and shuffling next to Harry as his sleep got lighter.

Harry turned on his side and kissed the tip of Draco's shoulder then he buried his head in the crook of his neck. Draco scooted closer into Harry's warmth letting Harry spoon him. As Harry considered whether dozing a little longer would be a good idea or not, Draco stretched, kicking his legs straight and then shaking his whole body from head to toe, and turned to face Harry.

"Good morning, Potter," he mumbled sleepily.

"Morning, Malfoy." Harry leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose.

Draco fluttered his eyelids several times in an attempt to chase the remaining sleep away. Harry watched his lashes move up and down, flashes of grey showing behind them.

"What's the time?" Draco asked, rubbing his eyes vigorously.

"Haven't checked yet."

Draco turned around under Harry's arm to reach for his phone. The flash of light hurt both their eyes. 5:25 AM.

"We still have a lot of time before you have to get started with today's quota of essays."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm so done with them." Harry pulled Draco back towards him again.

Draco snaked his hand under Harry's arm and over his waist, running his fingers lightly up and down his back. "How are you feeling?"

"A little stiff and sore, but positively so. It's just been so long."

"I know."

They fell into a silence only watching each other, taking in each other's features, etching it all into their minds. Finally Draco broke the silence.

"This is creepy, I feel like the vampire Hestia was head over heels for a few years back."

"I thought she loved Alec." Harry was confused.

"A muggle book character. She was so in love with it Alec actually felt threatened. But now if I mention it to her she denies it quite furiously, but I know she still has the posters hidden in her closet."

"She does seem to have a temper, and she seems the more meddlesome one of both of them." Harry thought of her question at the manor.

"Actually it's Scorp, but he manages to be sneaky about it."

"I guess," Harry said, "he was the one to tell me about getting introduced to King Septum, Queen Helix and Prince Albert."

"Don't say that ever again. I don't know what joy they get out of saying that. And now that I know Albus' name, the trio sounds disturbing."

Harry pinched his eyes shut, "Ugh, now that you mentioned it, it does indeed sound disturbing."

They took a moment to erase the past minute from their minds before breaking into a fit of giggles like a pair of teenagers.

"I never took you for someone who would go so, all out, with piercings and tattoos. Not to mention your hobbies. Seriously Draco, motocross and parkour?" Harry said, after their giggling fit subsided.

"I got into them to impress—" Draco stopped short when he realized he was about to talk about his ex to the man he had slept with the previous night.

Harry didn't seem to mind. "Ah, youthful love. Hestia mentioned straightening her hair for Alec. Reminded me of the French and tango classes I started to take for Ginny." Harry mused.

"I remember that." Draco relaxed. "That's when I learnt to appreciate that messy Potter hair. She looked hideous with that straight hair. Like those creepy ghost children in movies centered around the Victorian era."

"It couldn't be that bad."

"It was. But tell me more about your French lessons." Draco looked at him, his eyes glinting mischievously.

It reminded Harry of the fact that Draco was completely fluent in French. "Oh, no, no, no. Don't even think about it. I've already forgotten it all. French and tango weren't really my cups of tea."

Draco pouted dejectedly, "And here I thought I'd get some foreplay in French."

"Well, I could always do it in parseltongue." Harry blushed.

"I'll make sure to remind you next time," Draco promised.

Harry blushed even more. He could feel the tips of his ears, even his nose flood with warmth. He tried to change the subject. "At least you did a better job at charming Vesta."

The distraction worked. Draco sighed and rolled on his back. For a moment Harry thought he had pushed it too far but then Draco pulls Harry into his arms.

"It only worked because I enjoyed them too. The feeling of air when I jumped from a platform to another. Or when on some nights I go on slower rides with my bike and leave the helmet home. I enjoy the breeze against my face. It feels just like flying."

"French was fun for a while to be honest, but then the grammar got hard," Harry confessed, earning a lazy chuckle from Draco. "I did enjoy the tango lessons though, but then Ginny stopped going to them and I didn't want to go there without her."

"That's a pity. I thought you were kicked out of the classes because where other people have two left legs you have four left limbs."

"Heyyy! I was one of their best students."

"Harry, don't be silly. I remember the ball back in Hogwarts."

"I was young and we didn't have the best training."

"Left limbs." Draco stuck his tongue out playfully.

Harry looked hilariously scandalized. Draco began to chuckle at his face, but soon his chuckles morphed into shrieks.

"Potter, stop it!" He demanded, as Harry's fingers dug to his sides, tickling all the air out of his lungs. "Stop it right now, or you'll make Kreacher wake up."

It was Harry's turn to laugh. "You care about Kreacher's sleep?" He asked while wiping the nonexistent tears from his eyes.

"Enough to get your fingers off of me," Draco griped.

"Don't say that. Kreacher will get heartbroken. You were about to become his best friend."

"Shut it, Potter, or so help me I'll hex you to the moon."

"You do that and you can get someone else to hiss the naughty things to you in the dead of the night," Harry threatened.

"I don't think so. I've got you here now. I'm never letting you go again."

Draco's teeth revealing, nose crunching, and brow furrowing grin in all its weirdness was the most beautiful thing Harry had seen in some time. The confident childish demeanor made Harry's heart twist in ways it hadn't twisted in a long time. He could feel the words rush to his tongue but they came to a halt in the nick of time. The sentence forming on the tip of his tongue was off. It ended with Ginny. Harry didn't want to make promises he wouldn't be able to keep. He would wait for the perfect time, for the perfect words.

He fervently tried to come up with something to say when his eyes fell on the tattoo on Draco's chest. He hadn't noticed it the previous night. Draco's smile fell and he looked down at his chest to see what had stolen Harry's attention. It was the little frog balancing on one of the swirling smoke tendrils.

"It comes out during the day, specially after sex."

"You have a frog tattooed on you that comes out after sex?" Harry asked, dumbstruck.

"It felt funny when I planned to get it. I regretted it after it freaked out one of my dates."

"You have a horrible sense of humour."

"So I've been told," Draco said cheekily.

Harry traced the frog with his fingers, "How did you manage to get a magical tattoo in the first place?"

"A boy from the tribe moved to our town. He had experience with tribal tattoos and after pulling a few strings he bought the tattoo studio from the guy who made Scorp's tattoo. He also added a magical touch to my existing ones."

"He can do that?"

"You'd be surprised by the development in the body art community. I get to listen to his ramblings all day long. He has a crush on Scorpius and often swings by."

He had seen many of Draco's tattoos already and Draco had shown some more, but the frog one made him curious. He sat up and pushed the blanket down to Draco's waist. Harry had already seen the smoky tendrils that extended in all directions the previous night. Draco had taken a moment to let Harry admire the patterns on his skin before pulling him down into the bed with him.

"Tap the frog three times on its stomach," Draco instructed.

Harry did as told and the frog came to life. It stretched one of its forelegs and squeezing its eyes shut opened its mouth.

"It's serenading," Draco explained sheepishly.

Harry, dumbfounded, couldn't bring himself to answer. He just kept watching as the frog jumped from tendril to tendril serenading like a jolly cartoon sidekick. He was so mesmerized by the weird frog that he didn't notice the main magical effect until only Draco's chest was covered in black ink. The smoke was retracting into a tiny tattooed hole over Draco's heart. Harry watched as the last bit of ink became one with the circle on his chest before the frog jumped into it too disappearing completely. For a while nothing else happened.

"You can just clear up all the tattoo's?" Harry asked, wondering why Draco would want such an effect. He was already thinking about Draco's job perhaps being the reason.

"Wait for it."

A few more second passed without anything happening before Harry saw the head of a dragon poking out from the black hole. It looked at its surroundings warily before getting out completely. The serpent like dragon was followed by another similar dragon, except its colour was different. The first one was mint coloured, the second one peach. Harry noticed the initials on their bodies, H.J.L.M and S.L.N.M.

"Hessie and Scorp?"

"Yeah, I got them on their tenth birthday. The tattooist animated them only a few years back though when I agreed to be his guinea pig for trying to merge muggle tattoos with the magical ones."

Harry wasn't listening, instead he tried to touch the initials on their scale inked bodies, but each attempt lead only to angry hissing and sliding back into the circle.

"Wait for it," Draco tutted him.

Harry waited. Every second that passed by felt like an eternity. Finally, a moment later the minty dragon poked out its head again.

"Hessie was the first to be born," Draco explained.

Harry watched as the dragon carefully flew out of the hole. Right after it came the peach coloured dragon. They both circled around the hole that had morphed into a heart before flying away from it. To Harry's amazement the dragons left behind a trail of colourful tattoos, covering all of Draco's skin just like the inky smoke had. Eventually they flew to Draco's shoulders and curled on them to rest.

Harry leaned closer making the dragons restless and angry again. "I must say I feel threatened by the way those dragons are glaring at me."

"They don't know you. I've kept them inactivated since they drove away a date of mine."

Harry wanted to comment on the irony of dragons named after the twins driving off all of Draco's dates away when the twins were the ones trying to set him up. Perhaps he did like the ferocious dragons after all.

Then he focused on the new tattoos. Draco had flower tattoos covering his whole body. On his torso and back he had narcissus flowers for his mother and nerine bowdenii vestas for Vesta. Pansies and light pink roses, called Francis Blaises, covered both his legs. According to Draco the flowers for Vesta and Blaise were a bit of a stretch but he wanted to stick to the theme. On his arms Draco had intricately made vines. If Harry hadn't know better he would've sworn they were real vines.

For a moment Harry forgot the two dragons perched on Draco's shoulders and instead poked at the flowers that were resting over the sectumsempra scars. Draco flinched a little at his touch. Neither of them mentioned the scars themselves.

"They're blooming," Harry said in awe. The flowers were opening further petal by petal.

"The happier I am the more they bloom."

Harry looked up at Draco who was looking away now. His cheeks were flushed red, his lashes resting on his cheeks. Draco looked like he had just crawled out of a rococo painting. As Harry's heart skipped a beat he swore to never ever let the flowers on Draco's skin wither away.

**_16-17 yo._ **

It had taken over four hours before all the stomping and angry shrieks had ceased. Harry had no idea what trick Scorpius used, but as soon as he returned from the Burrow and entered the room Hestia stopped. After Scorpius had calmed his sister down Draco had sent them both back to manor so Hestia could apologize to Narcissa and vice versa. The grandmother granddaughter duo was really not getting along without friction.

Draco was already halfway done with his share of the essays. Harry was on his third one, out of about thirty essays. Harry waited for Draco to write the marks on the top corner with a swift movement of his wrist before interrupting him, again.

"Draco?"

"Harry, I swear I will hex you if you ask me about Polyjuice again."

"I wasn't going to," Harry sniffed. Even though Draco was right about Harry's potions skills such blunt reminders still made him cringe.

"Well?" Draco asked, not really averting his focus away from the essays.

"You know, I never really understood the whole deal about your names."

"What about our names?" Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. He was so done with names for one day. His parents' attempt to talk the twins out of using their mother's surname and consequently making the twins either throw hissy fits or run away to mope to their baby sibling was enough of a headache

"The whole deal of everyone calling you by different names. Drake Mansoor. Hestia, Luc, Scorpius, Cissy. Even Jacob. He keeps going from Jacob to Jake to Alec."

"Mansoor was Vesta's surname. After saving me from Morris we had to come up with some alias. So I took up her surname. Drake is just a nickname that passes easily as a first name. Smart people could've put two and two together. But I guess you and I are the only ones suffering from high IQ."

"Right," Harry snorted, remembering the day he had confronted Draco for no other reason than just feeling like it. "I think it's nice of Hessie and Scorp to take up her surname."

"It is," Draco agreed, "I just wish my parents saw it the same way. I understand their sentiment with the manor and the Malfoy lineage, but changing a surname won't ruin anything for them. The twins will still be Malfoys."

Harry nodded, but the surname wasn't what he was thinking of "What about the children? I mean everything but their surnames. Everyone seems to call them by different names."

"There isn't different names, just their first names and middle names. Vesta called them by their middle names as a nod to our parents. Alec just joined the trend as a kid because he thought it was cool. Like their own tiny club."

"That's adorable," Harry smiled. He thought of the children in the photo, being up to no good and getting pranked back by Draco.

"Very adorable, to be honest," Draco smiled in the same fatherly way Harry had gotten accustomed to over the months.

"Narcissus as in Narcissa. After your mother?" Harry confirmed.

"Yes."

"And Lucia? Was Vesta's mother Lucia too?"

"No. She never talked about her parents. They'd died in an accident soon after her birth."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Lucia is after my father. Lucia, Lucius."

"Oh, I see."

"I had the same reaction as you. The dark mark was enough of a nod to my father. But she insisted Hestia to be named after our fathers and Scorpius to be named after our mothers. She said straight copy-paste would be too unoriginal."

"So Hestia is named after Vesta, her father and your father?"

"You got the Greek and Roman goddess references right, but as I said, she barely knew her parents so she didn't feel like commemorating them. Jamie as in James, after your father."

Harry's mouth fell open. "When you said our parents, you meant your and my parents?"

"Yes."

Harry now really hoped that the dragons would come out from hiding again. "What about Scorpius?"

"Scorpius is named by the Malfoy tradition of naming children after constellations. Lewis is after you mother. We couldn't find anything closer to Lily, unfortunately."

"I can't believe you named them after my parents." Harry was dumbstruck.

"I hope you don't mind," Draco looked at him with concern. "Not that minding could change it anymore. If you even suggested it the twins would have your head on a—"

Draco was nearly smothered when Harry suddenly rushed over the table to kiss him. 

Finally when they broke the kiss Draco looked at the essays strewn all over the table. "If I knew you'd react like that I would have told you sooner."

"I can't believe you are such a sap." Harry shot him a broad grin.

"Not my idea."

"As if she could make you do anything you didn't want."

"I can see it on your face, Potter. You are already planning to talk about this to your Weasley clan. Don't you dare or there will be serious consequences."

"As if. What are you going to do? Tell Hessie and Scorp to change their names? You just said they'd have my head on a stake if I suggested it. Don't imagine they wouldn't do the same to you."

"I know they would. I was thinking about continuing this little break activity we just had. I think I'll have to skip it to make sure my image as a cold and distant jerk stays unaltered."

"What? No! This excitement on my face has nothing to do with Ron and Hermione," Harry lied. There was no way he was going to miss a chance to snog Draco senseless.

"Is that so?" Draco smiled cunningly.

Harry nodded his head vigorously.

Draco pretended to lift himself up, but instead of leaning closer to kiss Harry he gathered all the essays back into their piles. "Patience is a virtue."

"Draco!" Harry whined.

"Chop chop, Potter. McGonagall won't wait for us to finish making out before returning the essays to her."

The mention of McGonagall made any burning desire in Harry wilt away. Draco was right, the essays needed to be checked in time unless Harry wanted McGonagall to force him take a year off.

**_19 yo._ **

"It's not all that surprising. Many Renaissance patients grow faster on their last few weeks. In addition to it if you consider their magical cores then it should have been obvious. Both you and Draco are strong wizards. They've inherited it all from you two."

"Thank you Hermione. I know this is stupid of me when both you and Pansy have confirmed it all already. I just can't help being worried. After everything they have been through, how they jumped back into their normal lives just doesn't seem right."

After the final routine check up Draco had taken the twins to the manor. Narcissa was arranging another big event, and now with the hormones out of the way Hestia and Scorpius wanted to help her. Draco had even mentioned inviting Alec over so he could be there to break the ice between Alec and his parents.

Harry on the other hand had asked Hermione to join him as he went to get Albus back home. Having her as back up when dealing with Molly always proved helpful. He also wanted to talk about the treatment.

"I understand Harry. We are worried about them too. Pansy has talked to Draco about therapy."

Harry shook his head, "They will never agree to it."

"The twins did get a little... concerned," Hermione told Harry. He knew what she meant by concerned. Any mention of staying away from their real home in the muggle town was making them jittery. They had already missed their chance to enroll in the universities they'd wanted to go to.

"I feel like there is a but."

"Draco agreed. He said that if he was going to give his new life with you a chance he needs to do it properly."

Harry dropped his head to hide his shyness. Even though Draco and he had already announced their relationship to everyone they hadn't really gone around talking about it. There wasn't even any PDA going on between them.

Hermione put her hand on his shoulder. "I am glad you both finally have found the love you deserve. However, that's not all. Draco also agreed for the therapy because he is worried about Hestia and Scorpius. Living through everything twice, and now their turbulent relationship with their best friend. All of it is taking a toll on them."

"That's good," Harry said as they arrived at the Burrow. "Here we go," he sighed nervously.

"Harry you know she's not going to eat you up," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you try saying that after you have ignored her for almost two years, only showing up when you needed help."

"But we all know how hard you've—"

"And then insist that you are doing fine, you don't need her help anymore, and don't get in touch with her after surviving an unfairly balanced duel."

Whatever Hermione was going to say to assure Harry died on her lips. He did have a point. Not letting Molly look after him after an almost life threatening duel did mean that she was mad. And no one wanted to cross paths with a very angry Molly.

"I guess, it'll be better if you went in first," Hermione pushed Harry into the lioness' den, "once she gets the initial steam out I will calm her down. Better that she is mad at only one of us."

Harry wanted to disagree but Hermione was right. If Hermione went right in and defended Harry first Molly would get mad at both of them and then there will be no one who could help him. With a deep breath Harry knocked the door.

**_Happily Ever After_ **

Inhale through the nose, hold it, exhale through the mouth.

Harry counted the seconds as he let his body relax after the jog. Switching irregular gym visits to morning jogs was a good move on his part. Some fresh air in the morning made his day better, not to mention his love life. There was still a long way before Harry could accept Draco's offer of going on a bike ride with him. He felt insecure about his body. His body image had skewed his perception of durability of things completely, but with everyone's support and his own newfound motivation Harry was getting there.

As he bent down to stretch a familiar figure approached him. Midway to touching his toes Harry straightened up again.

"Hi, Harry."

"Hey," Harry stared at Ginny like she was a ghost.

A few words and fifteen minutes later they were sitting at a quiet muggle café. It was one of the few rare cafés that opened at the crack of dawn.

"This is a cozy place to come to after practices," Ginny told him. "I love the anonymity. Instead of a famous quidditch player I'm just another night shift worker in need of some strong coffee."

"The atmosphere is nice," Harry agreed. He had no idea why Ginny had suddenly invited him for a coffee, or why he had accepted. He was still wearing his work out clothes which made him more and more self conscious with each customer that was coming in for a quick coffee.

"How have you been?"

"Fine. What about you?" Harry hoped the conversation wasn't as stilted as it sounded to him.

"I'm getting there," Ginny answered truthfully.

Harry didn't know what to say to that.

"I've been going to therapy, and they took me back into the team. Staying busy has done good to me," Ginny continued, sparing Harry.

"I'm glad to hear that." He was being honest. After a conversation with Draco on his post pregnancy depression Harry had realized how wrong he'd been to blame it all on Ginny. She shouldn't have abandoned Albus the way she had, but now Harry knew it was his fault to begin with.

"Quite a coincidence meeting you today. I had been thinking about calling you again. I wanted to apologize for everything I've done."

"It's alright. I should be the one to apologize. Most of it was my fault anyway. I should have never rushed you the way I had. I understand now what a big responsibility children can be and how much more preparation getting one requires."

"I'm glad you see it now." Ginny felt relieved. "Nonetheless, the way I just ended everything instead of talking to you was wrong. I should have explained it, communicated my feelings to you."

"I should have listened to you better. I guess we both made mistakes. I'm just happy that Albus didn't suffer too much."

The mention of Albus cast a shadow on Ginny's face. For a moment Harry feared this conversation would end the way it had ended the last time.

"I'm glad too. Now that I can think straight I see how much I've hurt him. Harry, I want to try again. I want to be the mother I couldn't be to him. I'm sure I've already missed a lot of milestones, but I don't want to miss anymore. I want to come back home to both of you."

Harry was stunned silent again. Just few months ago he had been waiting for this moment but right now when Ginny said home Harry couldn't think of a single corner in the house that had a touch of Ginny in it anymore. Everything had changed so quickly.

"Of course, we can take things slowly between you and me. I just want to be there for Albus," Ginny quickly added, when Harry wouldn't answer.

"Ginny, I'm glad you want to be there for Albus, but I—" Harry couldn't continue. In front of him was the person he had loved for years. They had been through so much together. Back at _home_ was the person he was beginning to love like no one else. They too had been through so much together.

Before Harry could continue Ginny spoke up, "The tabloids were right then, there is someone else."

The dejected look on her face made Harry's heart ache. Even though the passion for her had died he did care about her. He remembered reading some article about people often letting go too soon after the passion ended. Sometimes sticking to it meant letting companionate love grow. Was he making a hasty decision?

"Malfoy," he finally said.

"Malfoy?"

"The someone else. I'm dating Malfoy right now."

"Please, tell me you didn't steal Lucius from Narcissa."

Ginny's horrified expression made Harry laugh. "No. I'm dating Draco Malfoy."

"So The Prophet was right with its conspiracy theories then. He has returned."

"He hates them. Specially after seeing the unicorn issue."

"I loved the unicorn issue," Ginny confessed, but then she got serious again. "I know we got divorced already, but we were married for years. I understand you needed someone to get through this past year and a half. It's fine. Just don't let it wipe away everything we had."

Harry thought about what Ginny said. "Gin, I'd love it more than anything if you and Albus spent time together. I'm not sure about us though. I need some time to think."

"Of course. Take all the time you need." Ginny took out a slip of paper from her bag and handed it to Harry, "here, this is my new number. Give me a call when you feel you are ready."

"You know my number already," Harry started, "give me a call whenever you feel ready to meet Albus again. McGonagall is letting me work from home, so I can spare some time to bring Albus to you."

"How about the day after tomorrow? I am free then. You could come at morning and we could spend the whole day together," Ginny offered immediately.

"Sounds fine. I'll drop Albus off at your place with everything you'll need."

"You are invited too, you know."

"Ginny, I told you I need some time to think. I don't think two days are enough for it."

Ginny pursed her lips. Harry could see she wasn't happy about it. Neither was Harry.

"Thanks for the coffee, Gin. I really need to go now. I'm starting reek despite the spells."

Ginny smiled as if Harry's sweating was some amusing inside thing she found adorable. As far as Harry remembered his excessive sweat had been one of the reasons behind their divorce. Of course, Ginny was going through a lot at the time and his sweating was just a stupid excuse. She told him that herself, but the contrast between then and now got Harry thinking.

When a while later Harry carefully opened the main door to not wake up Draco or Albus the smell of pancakes reached his nose. He silently entered and locked the door behind him. Once in the hallway he could hear Draco singing silently. Albus was humming along with him. They had woken up already.

"Ooh, look at you. The best broadway hummer ever."

Harry took a few steps to get closer so he could hear them better. There was a moment of silence.

"What have you done?" Draco shrieked

Harry nearly rushed into the kitchen but Albus' fit of giggles stopped him.

"Non, non, non!" Harry heard Draco scream dramatically. With each 'non' Albus laughed harder and harder.

"Why would you do zis to me?" Draco went on with his thick pretend French accent. "You have killed my pancake monkey! You have eaten its eyes! Oh no! Not it's mouth! How will he eat his bananas now?"

Albus laughed so hard he began to hiccup.

"Here you go, little man."

Harry heard loud slurping.

"Is it better? No, don't laugh. You'll get hiccups again. We need to clean up this mess before Daddy comes home."

"Daddy!" Albus squealed.

"Yup, daddy. We'll have pancakes together. Until then keep your hands off of my pancake monkeys!" Draco used his wicked witch voice to say the last bit making Albus laugh again.

Harry decided this was the perfect moment to enter. He would ruin the surprise, but Draco's expression on being caught would be priceless.

"Good morning!" He hollered to both of them making them jump.

"Daddy!" Albus shrieked happily. He reached out from his high chair.

"No sweetie, daddy is all sweaty and stinky right now." Harry leaned down to give a consolation kiss on top of Albus' head.

When he turned back a pair of fiery eyes and crossed arms were staring back at him.

"Potter," Draco had one of his eyebrows raised.

"Good morning," Harry tried again.

"You just scared the life out of me, used too many decibels for seven in the morning and ruined our surprise. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Harry tilted his head, pretending to think of an answer. In reality he was being too distracted by Draco's tattoos again. When entering the room he hadn't noticed that Draco was clad only on a pair of underwear and a t-shirt. His flower tattoos were visible on the legs and the dragons were intertwined around the vines over his biceps. The light coming from the kitchen window looked like a halo around his head.

"Stop staring at me like that. I know you're judging me for my appearance. But I'll let you know, this little man here," Draco started, making Albus laugh again as he recognized Draco addressing him as little man, "woke me up right after you went out and hasn't left me alone since then. I couldn't even wash my face because he'd fling something across the room. Trust potterspawn to ruin my morning."

"I'm not judging you. You just look breathtaking," Harry said truthfully.

Draco snorted, "yeah right. Just like you're looking dashing with those glorious sweat patches." Draco rolled his eyes but still stretched his hands for a hug.

Albus stretched out too but before Draco could direct the hug at him Harry dashed into Draco's arms.

"Albus ought to wake you up every morning if it means I get a hug after my jog."

His comment earned him a smack on his bum.

"Die in a ditch, Potter. I can gift all three of them to Mrs. Weasley then."

"You wouldn't do that. You love your all three of your potterspawns too much."

"And my Potter too." Draco gave him an Eskimo kiss.

Harry thought of Ginny again. What she had implied about all the years and love. Then he thought of all the empty spaces she had left behind being filled up first with junk and then everything Malfoy. Draco's hair gels and other products in the bathroom. His clothes on the other side of the closet. The books taking up more and more space on Harry's bookshelves.

The guest room that had been renovated into a proper bedroom for the twins when they'd come to visit. The hours they spent fighting over Albus' affection, each time Scorpius winning and Hestia rushing to Alec to whine about her baby brother having favourites.

The job offer for an elective course on tribal magic Headmistress McGonagall had given Draco. Harry had heard Draco talk about it with Jenna. She was all for it but Draco needed to fix everything back in his muggle home before he could say yes.

Then Harry thought of that morning. He thought of Albus' laughter, he loved being called little man. Ron had already experimented with it too. Each time someone would say little man Albus would look around like a meerkat to see who had addressed him even if it wasn't directed at him.

He thought of Draco standing there in his underwear and Harry's t-shirt from the night before, his now shoulder length hair shining in the sun light. The smile threatening his lips as he scolded Harry, and his open arms welcoming Harry back home. Home into his arms.

Harry knew where he was going to take Draco on a date after dropping Albus off at Ginny's.

He eased into the hug, burying his face into Draco's hair.

"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about any mistakes in this chapter. I tried to work hard on this one, cause happily ever afters are precious. It turned out way longer than I expected and checking for mistakes was a pain. But I'll come back soon to go through typos and continuity errors. 
> 
> The song reference is from Toothbrush by DNCE.
> 
> in addition to everything in the fic:  
> Hestia has: tattoos on her back, wrists and ankles.  
> Scorpius has: two eyebrow piercings, 7 ear piercings on both ears, viper bites, he loves kohl.  
> Draco has: basic ear piercings.
> 
> See you guys in future fics \\(^_^)/


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